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HISTORY 

OF THE 

TOWN OF QUEENSBURY, 

IN THE 

STATE OF NEW YORK, 

WITH 

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 

OF 

MANY OF ITS DISTINGUISHED MEN, 



SOME ACCOUNT OF THE ABORiaiNES OF 
NORTHERN NEW YORK, 

By A; W.^ HOLDEN, M.D. 



' Therefore to us that have taken upon us this painful labor of abridginq 

IT WAS not east, but A MATTER OF SWEAT AND WATCHING ; EVEN AS IT 13 NO 
EASE UNTO HISI THAT PREPARETH A BANQUET, AND SEEKETH THE BENE- 
FIT OF OTHERS ; YET FOR THE PLEASURE OF MANY, WE WILL 
UNDERTAKE GLADLY THIS GREAT PAINS." — 

n Maccabees, ii, 26, 27. 




ALBANY, N. T. :' 
JOEL MUNSELL 

1874. 



Fri.'] 



f 



OF 

THE LATE HALSEY R. WING, 

AN EARNEST WORKER, 

A PROFOUOT) THINKER, A WISE COUNSELOR, 
A SINCERE FRIEND, 

THROUGH WHOSE ENCOURAGEMENT, 

THIS WORK, 

AFTER YEARS OP TOIL AND RESEARCH, 

IS 

NOW PRESENTED TO THE PUBIilC, 

THESE PAGES, 

ABE WITH REVERENT AND AFFECTIONATE REGARD, 

BY THE AUTHOR. 



Glen's Falls, 

Christmas, 1873. 



A WORD TO THE PUBLIC. 



BY ANOTHER HAND. 




^HE historian is the seer looking backward. My 
friend, Dr. Holden, has long held this office. For 
many years, his visions of y^ olden times in 
Queensbury and vicinity, have placed him far in 
advance of any other person, as authority on all events of 
our local history. He almost sees the fish that used to 
swim in the waters that once covered our plains, and the 
icebergs depositing their freights of boulders along the 
mountain shores. He is never lonesome in his professional 
rides ; he moves amid Indian encampments, and along In- 
dian trails ; now he marches with an English, and now 
with an American or French army. Here he says was 
the ambush, there was the battle, and a little further on 
was the massacre. He is acquainted with all the first 
settlers of the town. Dear dweller in these parts, the 
doctor knows your great grandfather well ; he can tell 
you where he was born, whom he married, where he built 
his hut, and where his bones now rest. Read this book, 
it will open your eyes, as the eyes of Elisha's servant were 
opened, to see on every hillside and rood of sand, now so 
dull and dead, the teeming life that has moved here and 
dwelt here. It will make every spot new to you, and full 
of interest ; you will see the town prospering, the village 
growing, enterprise increasing, the churches thriving. I 
rejoice that the era, so long waited for, has at length 
come, when this history, which has cost years of earnest 



VI 



A WORD TO THE PUBLIC. 



research, which is so critical and authentic, and which will 
leave so little on this field to be undertaken by any one 
hereafter, is about to fall into our hands in type. It is ■ 
just what we have needed ; and the author is entitled to 
our lasting gratitude. I am sure that no intelligent na- 
tive of this town, or permanent inhabitant, can wisely do 
without this book. 




Glen's Falls, 

December 10, 1873. 




THANKS. 

^^fj^ll HANKS and acknowledgements are due to many 
who have contributed facts and material for this 
work, which have not been easily accessible to 
the author ; and also to those who have aided by 
their assistance and sympathy in the undertaking. Among 
the names to be thus credited are those of E. B. O'Calla- 
ghan, LL. D., Dr. Franklin B. Hough, the late Asahel 
"Wing, Esq., Hiram Ferguson, Zabina Ellis, Fred. A. Hol- 
den, Hon. James Gibson, Dr. Asa Fitch, George Brown, 
Dr. James Cromwell, Daniel Parks, Esq., Rev. S. B. Bost- 
wick, D.D., the late John J. Harris, and Joel Munsell, Esq. 
In regard to the sources from which the material of the 
historic narrative has been derived, all the standard his- 
tories, and biographies bearing upon the subject, have been 
consulted and compared. Credits and references have 
been given only in a limited number of instances, and 
those chiefly where the account has varied from the com- 
monly received version. The Documentary and Colonial 
Histories of New York have been the sources from which 
the greater portion of the work relating to the French war- 
has been compiled. This has been supplemented by in- 
formation derived from such rare works as Hoyt's Anti- 
quarian Researches, Pouchot's Memoirs, Kip's Jesuit 
Missions, Anbury's Travels, Memoirs of an American 
Lady, Carver's Travels, Rogers's Journal, Memoirs of John 
Stark, Dwight's Travels, Fitch's Historical Survey of 
Washington County, etc., etc. 

Finally, while entire accuracy may not in all instances 
have been attained, yet truthfulness has been aimed at, 



VUl THANKS. 

with whatever sacrifice of sensation or effect it may have 
been reached, tradition and legend having a subordinate, 
though an important place in the relation. With a modest 
hope that the reader may derive as much pleasure in its 
perusal, as the author has in its compilation, this volume 
is now committed to the press. 



Glen's Falls. 

Christmas-tide. 1873. 



PART I. 



HISTORY 



TOWN OF QUEENSBTJRY. 




INTRODUCTION. 

Aboriginal Occupation — Arch^ological Relics — Mohicans — 

SCHAGHTICOKES — AdIRONDACKS — AlGONQUINS — IrOQUOIS— St. 

Francis Tribe — Legend op the Blind Rock — Father Paul. 

[T the time of its almost simultaneous discovery by 
Samuel Champlain, and Henry Hudson, the territory 
of Northern New York, was the debatable ground of 
two powerful savage confederacies, the Adirondack 
at the north, and the Iroquois at the south. At the same time, 
on its eastern borders dwelt the Schaghticokes and a few scat- 
tered remnants of their affiliated tribes, which once held their 
council iires at Albany, and ruled this region with undisputed 
sovereignty from the sources to the mouth of the Hudson. 

Comprised within the limits of the great triangle, bounded 
by Lake Champlain, the St. Lawrence, Hudson, and Mohawk 
rivers, was a vast reach of table laud, amid whose tangle of 
streams and lakes, majestic mountain peaks and rugged 
ranges, endless swamps and illimitable forests, thronged and 
herded the elk, moose and deer ; their coverts and recesses af- 
forded range and security for the lurking wolf and the stealthy 
panther, the prowling bear and the subtle lynx. The pursuit 
of these was the red man's labor and recreation. The products 
of the chase furnished his food and raiment ; its attainment and 
success constituted his wealth and distinction. These were the 
loved and frequented hunting grounds of the aborigines, and, as 
tradition informs us, the scene of many a sanguinary struggle 
for supremacy, which thiimed the warrior ranks, and opened up 
a pathway of conquest to the descendants of the hardy Viking, 
the sturdy Saxon, and the gallant Celt. 

1 



2 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

T^he evidences of these conflicts are found imbedded along the 
banks of every stream, and beneath the soil of every carrying 
place from Albany to Montreal. Arrow and spear-heada, knives, 
hatchets, gouges, chisels, amulets and calumets, are, even to 
this late day, often found in the furrow of the plowman or the 
excavation of the laborer. Few localities have furnished a 
more abundant yield of these relics than the soil of Queensbury. 
While gun flints and bullets, spear heads and arrow points are 
found broadcast, and at large through the town, there are places 
abounding with them. Among the most noteworthy of these 
may be enumerated " the old Bill Harris's camp ground," in 
Harrisena, the headlands around Van Wormer's, Harris's, and 
Dunham's bays on Lake George, the Round pond near the 
Oneida, the Ridge, the vicinity of the Long pond, the 
banks of the meadow run and Carman's neck at the open- 
ing of the Big bend. This last was long noted as a run- 
way for deer and traditions are handed down of grand hunting 
frolics at this point, where large quantities of game were hunted 
and driven within the bend, and while a small detachment of 
hunters served to prevent their retreat, the imprisoned game, 
reluctant to take the water down the precipitous blufls, was 
captured or killed at their leisure. At this point, and also in 
the neighborhood of Long pond, fragments of Indian pottery, 
and culinary utensils of stone, have been found in such profu- 
sion, as to give coloring to the conjecture that large numbers of 
the natives may have resorted to these attractive spots, for a 
summer residence and camping ground. The old wilderness 
trails, and military thoroughfares, the neighborhood of block 
houses, picket posts, garrison grounds, and battle fields, in ad- 
dition to their Lidian antiquities have yieided many evidences 
of civilized warfare, in their harvests of bullets and bomb shells, 
buttons, buckles, bayonets, battered muskets and broken swords, 
axes and tomahawks of steel ; chain, and grape shot, coins, cob- 
money and broken crockery. Such relics are often valuable 
as the silent witnesses to the truth of tradition, and the verifi- 
cation of history. 

The eastern part of New York, at a period long anterior to 
the Iroquois ascendency, was occupied by a tribe variously 
known as the Ma-hick-an-ders, Muh-hea-kan-news, Mo-hea- 
cans, and Wa-ra-na-wan-kongs. The territory subject to their 
domination and occupancy, extended from the Connecticut to 



THE SCHAGHTICOKE INDIANS. 3 

the Hudson as far north as the southern extremity of Lake 
George. According to Schoolcraft, these Indians were among 
the tribes of the Algonquin stock. At the period of their 
greatest power, their national council lire was held on the ground 
now covered by the city of Albany, which was then known to 
them by the name of Pem-pot-a-wut-hut, signifying the fire 
place of the nation. The word Muh-ha-a-kuu-uuck, from 
which the word Mohican is derived, means a great water 
or sea that is constantly in motion, either flowing or ebbing." 
Their traditions state that they originally came from a country 
very far to the west, where they lived in towns by the side of a 
great sea. In consequence of a famine, they were forced to 
leave their homes, and seek a new dwelling place far away to 
the east. They, with the cognate tribes of Manhattans, Pequots, 
ISTarragan setts and Nipmucks, occupied the whole peninsula of 
ISTew England from the Penobscot to Long Island sound. The 
Brotherton community, and the Stockbridge tribe, now con- 
stitute the sole remnant of this once numerous people. Pre- 
vious to the establishment of the Dutch colonies in this state, 
the Mohicans had been driven eastwardly by the Iroquois, and, 
at the time of their first intercourse with the whites, were found 
in a state of tributary alliance with that fierce people. The 
early attachment which was formed with the first English colo- 
nists of Connecticut by the politic Mohicans, no doubt contri- 
buted in a great measure to their preservation during the 
harassing wars which prevailed through the colonial peninsula 
for the first fifty years of its settlement. 

The Schaghticoke Indians received their name from the lo- 
cality where they dwelt, derived, according to Spaffbrd, from the 
Indian term Scaugh-wank, signifying a sand slide. To this, the 
Dutch added the terminal, cook. The evidences of the early 
Dutch occupancy, exist to day, in the current names of the tri- 
butaries of the Hudson as far up as Fort Edward creek. The 
settlement of this tribe was seated on the Hoosick river not far 
from the town now bearing the same name. The hunting 
grounds of this vicinity, as far north as Lake George, for many 
years after the first white man had erected his rude habitation 
within this disputed border, were occupied by theSchaghticokes, 
under permission of the Mohawks, who owned the lauds, and 
with whom they were upon friendly terms. 



4 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

Their numbers, at all times small, were greatly diminished 
about the year 1745, when a large portion of the tribe aban- 
doned the village, and proceeded to Canada, where they united 
with the tribes in the French interest. Their subsequent agency 
in the destruction of the settlements at Hoosick, Saratoga, and 
Lydius's mills gives a fearful importance to their history in 
connection with the border annals of Northern New York. By 
a reference to the proceedings of a council on Indian affairs 
held at Albany in 1754, it will be seen that the River Indians 
were usually present at the treaties and councils of the Six na- 
tions, and had a voice in their deliberations.* On this occasion, 
the reply of the Schaghticoke Indians, to the address of the 
governor and council, represents their numbers as small, and 
their representatives as young and inexperienced. 

The Algonquin nation, which, at the time of Cartier's first 
voyage of discovery in 1534, occupied in its affiliations, alli- 
ances and dependencies, the whole extent of country, border- 
ing upon the great lakes, from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the 
Red river of the north, according to their traditions once occu- 
pied all the valley of the Lakes George and Champlain, as far 
westward as the St. Lawrence river and Lake Ontario. From 
these pleasant hunting grounds, after years of struggle and dis- 
comfiture, they were finally driven to the north-west by their pow- 
erful antagonists, the Iroquois, who in derision conferred upon 
the tribe the name of Adirondacks, signifying literally, a peo- 
ple who eat the bark of trees. The term Algonquin was one which 
was subsequently applied by the French to a particular class 
of that tribe, whose descendants are now settled in the vicinity 
of the lake of two mountains, Canada West. The earlier, and 
proper name by which this great family was known, was the 
Nipercerinians. They were finally amalgamated with the Caugh- 
nawagas, and fragments of other tribes, after many vicissitudes 
and reverses, and united in a civil jurisdiction, under the name 
of The Seven Nations of Canada. They were superior to the 
Iroquois in arts and attainments, and, at the culmination of 
their power had not only assumed in their relations to the 
neighboring tribes an attitude of commanding power, alike 
respected for its counsels, and feared for its strength, but had 
reached a point of civilization and polish scarcely equalled 

' Doc. Hist. N. T., vol. ii, p. 572. 



THE ALGONQUIN NATION. 5 

by any of the tribes nortb of the dominions of the ancient 
Aztecs. 

The Lenni-Lenape, Shawanese, Chippewas, Ottowas, "Winne- 
bagoes, Illini, nearly all of the New England tribes, including 
the Warapanoags, Pequots, Narragansetts, and Mohicans, had 
their origin, according to their common traditions, in this pro- 
lific stock. They were a mild, industrious, and brave people, 
scrupulous in fulfilling their promises, trustworthy, and honor- 
able according to the Indian code ; but comparatively effemi- 
nate, being neither so skilled in stratagem, fierce and relentless 
in war, eloquent in debate, nor politic and sagacious in council, 
as their hardier and more warlike neighbors at the south. 
Through the instrumentality of the earlier French navigators, 
who, from the outset of their intercourse with the people, had 
supplied them with fire-arms, and ammunition, a temporary 
success attended their warlike efforts; but the Dutch at the 
south, and the English colonists at the east, soon placed their 
hereditary enemies on an equal footing, and slowly, yet surely, 
they were expelled and driven beyond the mighty current of 
the Hochelaga. 

The traditions of this people state, that they originally came 
from a foreign country far to the north-west. They represented 
the Creator under the allegory of a large bird, and the order of 
the Creation in their legends, nearly corresponds with the Mosaic 
cosmogony. Like the majority of the Alleghanian tribes, they 
retain an account of the deluge, the waters of which covered 
the whole earth, except the summits of the highest mountains, 
whither their ancestors retreated, and remained in safety. They 
all believe in a Supreme Being, a future state of existence, a 
sensual paradise, and a state of punishment or retribution re- 
sembling that of Tantalus in the Grecian mythology. They 
also believe that in the beginning, the Great Spirit created an 
antagonistic power of evil, with which he is ever contending for 
the mastery. The sun stands to them as the representative and 
symbol of the Great Spirit, and is said by their medicine men 
to have been worshipped as such by their ancestors. They hold, 
also, the belief in the existence of minor spirits and powers both 
of darkness and light, such as furies, gnomes, and sylphs, water- 
sprites, genii and personal angels which attend every individual 
in the character of guardians and defenders. Their customs 
and worship are based upon supernatural observances; and 



6 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURT. 

though their traditions speak of sacrificial offerings, their 
religious rites, since the days of the discovery, are but a little 
more than a series of superstitious mummeries, which scarcely 
impose on the credulity of the uneducated savage. 

Though, beyond a doubt, the warriors and hunters of this 
tribe once ranged the forests and hill sides of this township, in 
pursuit of foe and game, yet they have left no monuments of 
their occupancy, and the story of Adirondack greatness and 
renown, can only be surmised from the chant of the crooning 
squaw, or the relation of the half-blood borderer amid the dark 
firs and icy air of the far northern wilderness. 

"We now come to the consideration of the Six I^Tations, which, 
in point of prowess, power, and the extent of domain, may be 
considered as the first, and most important nationality among 
the red men of North America, unless we make a single excep- 
tion in favor of the Nahuatlac tribes of the Mexican peninsula. 

On the authority of Schoolcraft, who has probably made 
more thorough investigations in relation to the archseology of 
this people, than any other writer, the term Iroquois, by which 
they are commonly designated, is of French origin, and is de- 
rived from an affirmative ejaculation or response, usually made 
by their warriors and sachems, on the reception of an address 
or speech. They were known to the Dutch as the Maquas, to 
the early English settlers, as the Mingoes, to the Mohicans as 
the Meugwe, and to the Algonquins as the ISTodowas. Although, 
from time to time in the progress of their history, we hear of 
various tribes joining this confederacy, yet the order of their 
nationality soon became lost in the ascendancy of the original 
tribes. Thus, the ISTecariages who joined them in 1723, the 
Messasauges who were admitted as a seventh nation in 1746, as 
also the remnant of, the Stockbridge tribe, which was annexed 
to them at a later day, soon lost their individuality, and the 
United People, as the Iroquois called themselves, continued to 
be designated by friend and foe as the Six nations. 

According to their own traditions, they originally consisted 
of seven nations, which, at a later period, were merged in six. 
This number they clung to as a distinguishing feature of their 
nationality up to the period when its existence was obliterated, 
and the brave descendants of many generations of warriors, 
became pensioners upon the stinted and parsimonious charity 
of the whites. 



THE SIX NATIONS. 7 

The territory over which the Iroquois held sway, extended at 
different times, aud more especially at the epoch of the esta- 
blishment of the Dutch rule in this state, from the Connecticut 
to the Mississippi rivers; but their settlements proper, includ- 
ing their castles, villages, and cultivated grounds, were limited 
to the interior and south-western portion of New York, stretch- 
ing westwardly from the valley of the Mohawk to the lake of the 
Eries. This section they figuratively called their long-house, 
the eastern door of which at Albany, was guarded by the Mo- 
hawks, and the western entrance was secured with equal vigil- 
ance by the Seuecas. Prior to the occupation of Canada by the 
French, the Six nations had no villages or permanent settle- 
ments north of the valley of the Mohawk ; although they claim 
to have had villages upon the banks of the St. Lawrence at a 
very early period in their history. 

Respecting their origin, their traditions are various and con- 
flictins:. One of their own writers claims that their ancestors 
were called forth from the bowels of a mountain by Tar-en-ya- 
wag-on, or the Holder of the Heavens. Their relations gene- 
rally agree in the statement that they originally migrated from 
a country far to the south-west, and had continued their progress 
to the sea, from whence they retraced their steps, and settled 
by tribes in the order in which they were discovered by the 
whites as follows, viz : commencing with the Mohawks on the 
east, next came the Oneidas, the Onondagas, Cayugas and 
Seuecas. The Tuscaroras, who became members of the confed- 
eracy at a later day, had their seat between the Oneidas and 
Onondagas. It is conjectured that of these groups, the Mohawk 
was the parent stock, from which the other clans were derived. 
This tribe was known as the elder brother among them, and 
it always commanded a prominent place and consideration in 
the councils of the league. Its territorial jurisdiction included 
that portion of Eastern New York which extends from the 
sources of the Delaware and Susquehanna to Lake Champlain 
and the St. Lawrence. 

The Oneidas were an offshoot from the Onondagas. Ac- 
cording to their own myth, they were the offspring of the once 
celebrated Oneida stone in the town of Stockbridge, Madison 
county. The name signifies, the people who sprang from the 
stone. They were called younger brothers by the rest of the 
confederacy. 



8 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURT. 

The Onondagas. or people of the swamp, asserted that their 
lands were the first settled, and their chief villasje as the long 
established capital of the federation. They claimed their origin 
from an eminence near the falls on the Oswego river. 

The Cayugas, who were settled around the fertile and plea- 
sant borders of the Cayuga lake, occupied a distinguished 
place in the history of the Iroquois. They also are conjectured 
to have sprung from the Onondagas, migrating at an early 
period, and planting themselves in the lovely region, over which 
they held undisputed sway for upwards of two centuries. 

The Senecas, or, as they termed themselves, Nundowaga, the 
people of the hills, were the most numerous of the six cantons. 
They have a legend, that they descended from a couple who 
dwelt on a hill, at the head of Canandaigua lake. Their 
name, though coincident with that of the great Roman poet 
and philosopher, is believed to be of Mohawk derivation, and 
its use has been traced to within fi:ve years of Hudson's first 
discovery. They contributed more than either of the tribes to 
the extension of the Iroquois dominions, and their war parties 
were the scourge and terror of all the tribes from the great lakes 
to the Gulf of Mexico. 

It is impossible, at this late day, to determine w^ith any accu- 
racy the date at which the Iroquois federation was adopted. 
That it took place as early as the discovery of this continent 
may be justly inferred from the few gleams of truth to be 
derived from their wampum belts and picture annals. Accord- 
ing to tradition, their compact was formed on the banks of the 
Onondaga lake, a powerful and influential chief by the name 
Thannowaga having not only originated the idea, but pushed it 
forward to a successful accomplishment. Whatever specula- 
tions may be hazarded in relation to this vague point, it is 
certain, from their prowess and achievements, that they had 
long been banded together for purposes of mutual aid and co- 
operation long before the whites mingled in their dusky coun- 
cils, or added the weapons of civilized life to the fierce passions, 
and untamed energy of the savage state. From their legends 
we learn of the total extinction of a tribe called the Allegrha- 
nians at a period indefinitely remote in their history. At a later 
date, the Eries, a powerful nation, dwelling on the shores of 
the lake which bears their name, were overwhelmed, and their 
national existence blotted out. The Kahkwas were obliterated 



THE SIX NATIONS. 9 

from the catalogue of forest nations. The Susquehannocks 
were annihilated. 

The Satanas were whirled before them like the thistle down 
before the tempest, and their identity forever lost. The Hu- 
rons, Wyandots and Quatoghies, were driven from their hunt- 
ing grounds, and scattered in isolated hamlets among the islands 
and peninsulas of the far lakes, where they alone found safety 
in their insignificance. The Andastes were hunted out and ex- 
tirpated from the wide spreading forests of Ohio. The Dela- 
wares, Nanticokes and Manhattans were subjugated, and by 
annual tribute and humiliating submission, averted the merci- 
less brand of destruction. They carried terror, and desolation 
along the Appalachian mountains ; their fierce war whoop rang 
along the valley of the Housatonic and resounded from the 
palisades on the Hudson ; the cries of their victims ascended 
with the mists of St. Anthony's falls; their pseans of victory 
were echoed from the crags and cliffs of Lake Superior; and 
far or near the aboriginal nomads quailed and retreated from 
their wild battle cry, and for upwards of two centuries, they 
swept the continent, from the eternal barriers of ice at the north 
to the very verge of the tropics, with the brand of conquest, or 
the besom of destruction. 

The government, and social polity of the Iroquois, united 
some of the better features of the feudal aristocracies, and mon- 
archical rules with some of the approved forms of a republican 
government, the general tenor of their polity assuming a patri- 
archal type. Their presiding ruler or civil head of the con- 
federacy was distinguished by the name of the Atotarho. This 
position was hereditary, belonging to a family of the Onondaga 
tribe, the line of succession following down through the female 
branches of the royal kin. Instances have not been wanting in 
their history, in which this venerated official has led their tribal 
hosts to battle and victory. He was supposed to be at all times 
employed, in serving the welfare, and guarding the interests of 
the league. 

The command of their armies devolved upon the principal 
warrior of the Mohawk tribe. This military leader bore the 
name of the Tekarihogea. The two kings Heudrick, Little 
Abraham and Brant, during the colonial period of our history, 
were examples of this chieftainship. This office, like the former 



10 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

was hereditary, except in extraordinary instances, when it was 
conferred upon superior valor or merit. 

Under these officers, presided six sachems, selected equally 
for their bravery, skill, and wisdom, from each of the several 
tribes. It has been stated, that at the organization of the con- 
federacy, fifty of these rulers were created, with as many alter- 
nates to act as assistants or proxies as circumstances required, 
and these were apportioned throughout the six cantons, where- 
ever personal distinction and merit formed a fitting subject for 
preferment. These chiefs affected great poverty, and although 
largely called upon to exercise the rights of hospitality to their 
tribesmen, and all visitors, they generally distributed among 
their needy followers and parasites, their entire quota of tribute 
and share of plunder accruing from forays into neighboring 
territories. 

Each canton was sub-divided into three or more distinct 
clans or families, designated by what they denominated totems, 
which, in forest heraldry, served as a badge of brother- 
hood, and hereditary distinction, and a certification of pergonal 
bravery and worth. The more distinguished of these totems, 
were the tortoise, the bear, and the wolf. These insignia 
were conspicuously tattooed upon their persons, and were re- 
garded by them with the pride and satisfaction which accom- 
pany the possession of armorial bearings, and knightly honors. 

The six sachems before mentioned, constituted the grand 
federative council of the league. The Atotarho presided at its 
deliberations, and on all state occasions the principal warriors, 
orators, and chiefs of the several tribes were summoned to par- 
ticipate in the counsels. This august body levied war, con- 
tracted alliances, sanctioned treaties, and prescribed their in- 
ternecine regulations, and foreign policy. 

The council fires of the league were constantly kept burning, 
at the castle of the Onondagas, and from it the people were 
yearly supplied with the sacred fire by the priests, or medicine 
men, with the most impressive rites and ceremonies. Here, 
also, during each year, was held the feast of the union, to keep 
bright the chain of their covenant, at which deputies from each 
tribe participated, and met to smoke in the great calumet of 
the confederacy 

Each tribe had also eight sub-officials called Ra-ko-wa-nas, 
who were probably the head men of the several families repre- 



THE SIX MATIONS. 11 

seuted. These discharged the duties of magistrates in their re- 
spective villages in times of peace, and in war marshalled the 
braves to battle. Each of these had his subordinate, who acted 
as his substitute, or aid as occasion demanded. They were 
called Mishinawas. Still below these were a host of minor offi- 
cials, petty sachems, and brevet chieftains, whose duties and 
functions were various and fluctuating. The rights, preroga- 
tives, and powers of their rulers, seem to have been founded 
mainly upon the terms of respect due to capacity, ability, and 
past services. 

All males above the age of puberty, were supposed to be ca- 
pable of taking the war path, and from that period, were, accord- 
ing to their usages, required to bear arms and render military 
service. The admission to the portals of manhood, was to them 
a solemn event, ushered in by protracted fastings, arduous 
trials, and imposing ceremonials, well calculated to inure the 
neophyte to the fatigue of the chase, and exalt his mind above 
the hazards of the battle-field. These preparations had their 
commencement in the wild peculiarities of their religious be- 
lief, and all their customs from the medicine dance to the great 
annual feast at their national altar were but parts of their pagan 
ceremonial and worship. 

In their councils and treaties, their war chiefs were held in 
secondary estimation, and all encroachments upon the prero- 
gatives of their sachems were carefully guarded against, with a 
watchful discrimination and jealous vigilance. On the other 
hand, whenever the interests of the commonalty and women 
were involved, as in the sale, or partition of lands, they had an 
equal, and sometimes controlling voice in the determination of 
the question. Their cultivated lands in particular were consi- 
dered the peculiar heritage of the women who tilled, and of the 
warriors who defended them. 

They exhibited a sagacious policy in regard to their prisoners 
of war. These were rarely exchanged, but with the remnants 
of conquered tribes were termed Wa-hait-wat-sha, literally, a 
body divided into pieces and scattered around. These were 
adopted according to their ability to care for, or look after them, 
among diflereut families, and were thus incorporated into the 
several tribes of the confederacy. 

As public speakers, the Iroquois have no equals in the annals 
of the red race. The reported speeches of Garangula, Logan, 



12 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

and Red Jacket equal in force and fervor, in imagery, eloquence 
and pathos the best efforts of the most gifted orators of the 
world. 

The Iroquois lacked the great welding and cohesive power of 
a common language, all of the tribes having a distinct dialect, 
bearing a striking resemblance to each other, and evidently de- 
rived from a common root. Of these, the Mohawk was the 
most harsh and guttural, and the language of the Senecas the 
most euphonious. In their ordinary conversation there was a 
great range of modulation in the inflections of the voice, while 
expressive pantomime and vehement gestures helped to eke out 
the meagerness of their vernacular on the commonest occasions. 
Their proper names were invariably the embodiments of ideas, 
and their literature,. as contained in their oft repeated legends, 
and the well remembered eloquence of their gifted orators, 
abounded with the most sublime imagery, -and striking anti- 
theses, which were drawn at will by these apt observers of 
nature, from the wild scenes, and picturesque solitudes with 
which they were most familiar. 

After the Revolution, the Mohawks, and such portions of the 
other tribes as espoused the cause of Great Britain in the strug- 
gle for independence, withdrew to Canada, and were seated upon 
a section of territory granted by the crown, in the vicinity of 
Brantford, at the head of Lake Ontario, where their descend- 
ants are residing in a prosperous and flourishing condition at 
the present day. 

The remainder of this people, after disposing by piece and 
parcel of the rich heritage left them by their forefathers, have 
been gathered finally upon their various reservations, around 
which the waves of emigration and civilization have surged for 
more than half a century. Here, in their villages and hamlets, 
with their schools, workshops and churches, this once warlike 
people are now peacefully and contentedly employed in the 
pursuits of agriculture and industry and the cultivation of the 
useful arts, presenting a singular, and in some respects, a re- 
freshing contrast, to the bustle and whirl, the greed, selfishness 
and rapacity of the world around them. 

The St. Francis Indians are descended from the once powerful 
Androscoggins, a branch of the great Abeuakies, or Tarrateens,* 
which at one time held sway over the entire territory embraced 
in the peninsula of :N"ova Scotia, Maine and Eastern Canada. 



THE ST. FRANCIS TRIBE. 13 

Through the indefatigable labors of Father Rasles, who dwelt 
among these tribes for more than twenty years, a flourishing mis- 
sion was established in the early part of the eighteenth century, 
at N"ar-rant-souak on the River Kennebeck. This settlement 
speedily became the rallying point for the French and Indians 
in their descents upon the frontier settlements of New Hamp- 
shire and Massachnsetts. The danger from this quarter at 
length became so eminent and pressing, that an expedition was 
finally planned for its destruction. A force of two hundred 
men, with a detachment of Indian allies, was fitted out in the 
summer of 1724, under the leadership of Captains Moulton and 
Harman of York. The village was invested. The attack was 
a surprise. Father Rasles, and about thirty of the Abenaki war- 
riors killed, and the remainder dispersed. The survivors of this 
relentless massacre, with the remainder of the tribe, fled to the 
Mission village of St. Francis, situated upon the lake of that 
name at the head of the St. Francis river. The frequent acces- 
sions of fugitives to their ranks, due to the active, aggressive 
policy of the English, so increased their numbers, that they soon 
became known as the St. Francis tribe. Under the training of 
their priests they speedily became a powerful ally of the French, 
cooperating with the predaceous bands of half savage habitans, 
kept the English border settlements in terror and trepidation, 
for a space of twenty-five years. In the notable campaign of 
1757, a large party of them accompanied Montcalm in his ex- 
pedition against Fort William Henry, at the southern extremity 
of Lake George, and were participants in the fearful and fiend- 
ish massacre which followed the surrender of that fort. They 
were doomed however to a reprisal, and vengeance, swift, tho- 
rough and effective. Immediately subsequent to the successes 
of General Amherst in 1759, the distinguished partisan Major 
Robert Rogers, was despatched with a force of two hundred 
picked men from his corps of rangers, to demolish the settle- 
ment, and chastise the tribe for its complicity in the frightful 
massacres of the three preceding campaigns. Proceeding with 
caution and celerity, the village was surrounded before an alarm 
was given, and after a brief, sharp contest, the place was re- 
duced, and the inhabitants, without respect to age or sex, were 
ruthlessly put to the sword. The dwellings and fortifications, 
together with a valuable church, fitted up with costly decora- 
tions and embellishments, were committed to the flames, and 



14 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

destroyed. A large silver image, two hundred guineas in mo- 
ney, and a large amount of booty and spoils were carried off by 
the victors. Although their village and church were rebuilt, 
from that time forward the tribe rapidly decreased, until the 
settlement became almost depopulated. But a small remnant 
now remains of that once powerful race which hailed with wild 
enthusiasm the preaching of the border crusade, ere its fiery 
devotees rushed forth with bow and brand to desolate the smil- 
ing fields, and lay waste the hamlets of the early settlers of North- 
ern New York. 

The few straggling representatives of the red race who haunt 
the watering places of this vicinity, during the season of travel, 
selling bead and basket work, are mostly descendants of the St. 
Francis tribe, who linger around the old hunting ground, like 
ghosts whose unfulfilled mission still holds them reluctant wan- 
derers on the shores of time. 

Among the many localities of traditionary interest, within 
the town of Queensbury the Blind rock is associated in the 
memories of the oldest inhabitants with scenes and tales of tor- 
ture, cruelty, and suffering, the horrible details of which are as 
varied as the diabolical inventions of savage ingenuity could 
execute upon its unresisting victims. By a reference to the old 
town record, it will be seen that the commissioners of high- 
ways have, in several instances, referred to this as a common, 
and well known point in their surveys for private roads, and 
occasioned changes in the public thoroughfares. Dr. Fitch, in 
the Historical Survey of Washington County, refers to it in 
the following language : 

"Almost every step between the present village of Sandy 
Hill and the lake thus became tracked with blood ; and Half- 
way brook, and Blind rock, and the Five-mile run became noted 
as places of ambuscade, and were always approached with fear 
and apprehension." 

This rock is one of the numerous boulders that lie in the path 
of the diluvial drift trending from the lofty Adirondack range 
to the valley of the Hudson. Its composition is gneiss. 

It is deeply imbedded beneath the drift and soil, the slow ac- 
cumulation of untold ages, and, although legend states that 
within the period of a human life, over four feet of the rock has 
been exposed to view, yet the gradual wash from the hill above, 
and the frequent passage of the plow at its sides, has so filled 



LEGEND OF THE BLIND ROCK. 15 

up the inequalities of the surface, that but a very small portion 
of the crown of the rock is now visible. It is situated a yard or 
two from the route of the old military highway leading from 
Fort Edward to Fort William Henry, and about twenty-five 
rods to the east of the present plank road to Caldwell, on the 
farm owned by Mr. William Miller, and about two and one- 
half miles north of Glen's Falls village. It is stated by some of 
the older inhabitants, that the rock has a large cleft or crevice 
through the centre, caused by the repeated and heavy fires to 
which it has evidently been subjected at some long distant 
period. 

According to various legends, this locality was a favorite 
place of encampment for the Indians, and a frequent point of 
resort for the torture and immolation of the numerous prisoners 
captured by them in their excursions against the settlements at 
the south, or taken upon the line of march between the two 
great places of rendezvous at Fort Edward and Lake George. 

One account states that the name of Blind rock was given 
to this scene of savage cruelty, in consequence of a blind man 
being brought here, put to the torture, and finally burnt to death 
upon its summit. Another version is that a captive's eyes were 
torn out, and thrown into the burning embers gathered in the 
crevice of the rock. All the stories agree in representing it as 
a place where prisoners were habitually tortured, their finger 
and toe nails torn out, their flesh gashed and hacked, their 
persons maimed, mutilated and mangled with knives, spears 
and tomahawks ; blazing splinters of fat pine thrust into the 
shrinking, quivering flesh ; and after every resource of savage 
craft and skill was exhausted, and their fainting victims were 
ready to drop in unconsciousness to the ground, their writhing 
bodies were tossed into the fierce flames, kept burning on the 
sacrificial stone, and were there relentlessly held among the 
seething brands, until life and the semblance of humanity had 
become extinct in their blackened and shrivelled forms. 

Tradition has handed down to us the details of one afiair 
when two English prisoners were captured while on their way 
from Lake George to Fort Edward. The Blind rock being 
nearly equidistant from these two points, comparatively safe 
from attack or molestation ; abounding in material for building 
their torture fires, contiguous to a rivulet of the purest water; 
and furnishing a cleared, dry, commodious site for a camping 



16 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

ground, caused this vicinity to be more resorted to than any 
other on the whole route from Lake St. Francis to Albany. On 
this particular occasion, the captives were divested of their 
clothing, and one of them firmly lashed with thongs of bark to 
one of the neighboring trees. The numerous pines in the vi- 
cinity soon furnished material for the fierce, glowing fire. The 
usual council was in the meantime assembled, and its delibera- 
tions resulted in the determination that the prisoners should 
first run the gauntlet; after which the usual tortures were to 
be resorted to, crowning their exercises with the customary 
cremation. 

In execution of this plan, the savages formed an extended 
circle around the fire, within which the captor was placed, and 
to avoid the fierce blaze of the crackling fire, be was obliged to 
shrink to the verge of the armed circle of painted demons who 
surrounded him, who, as often as he came within their reach, 
struck at him with their keen edged tomahawks and glittering 
knives, and impelled him onward in his weary death race, by 
thrusting at him with their spears, or with the blows of their 
formidable war clubs. At length, when nearly exhausted, he 
caught sight of a papoose, or Indian child, that unheeded, had 
worked its way among the feet of the warriors. With the im- 
pulse of desperation, the prisoner dashed forward, seized the 
child, and fiung it on the fire. For an instant the savages were 
appalled and paralyzed ; and then, regardless of their victims, 
with loud clamors and shouts rushed forward to rescue the 
little scion of their tribe. In this moment of confusion, the 
captive snatched a hatchet, and liberated his companion from 
his bonds. They immediately took to the woods, and making 
a long detour, succeeded in escaping from their enemies, and 
finally reached Fort Edward, their flesh lacerated with the 
briers and underbrush, through which they forced their way, 
on their frightful and perilous journey. These, and many other 
incidents of a kindred nature, it is natural to suppose should 
have perpetuated the memories of this spot with an unfailing 
interest through all time, and yet, save to a few of the older 
residents, who in childhood, by the old fashioned blazing 
hickory 'fire, or the fiickering flare of the pine knot, have lis- 
tened shuddering to these recitals of horror, the place is un- 
known to the people as possessing any historic interest, and the 
events connected with it, until now, an unrecorded myth. I have 



SKETCH OP REV. ANTHONY PAUL. 



17 



consulted old people who were born here in the town, who had 
never heard of such a place as " the blind rock," and, but for 
the accidental occurrence of the name on the town records, the 
whole afikir would doubtless have soon passed into oblivion. 

Something more than a half a century ago, a laborer named 
Robert Cranney while ploughing in a field south of, and adja- 
cent to this rock, heard a metallic sound like the jingling of 
coin in the furrow. His search was rewarded by finding nearly 
twenty-five dollars of an ancient coinage, which had been libe- 
rated from their long concealment by the edge of the plough- 
share, which had doubtless torn asunder the decayed purse in 
which they were originally contained. Animated by this dis- 
covery, all of the ground in the neighborhood of this rock, was 
subsequently thoroughly explored for treasure supposed to be 
concealed there. An eye witness states that he has seen the 
woods in the adjoining fields, thronged with horses tied to the 
trees, while their owners or riders were busily engaged in throw- 
ing up the earth, and sinking deep pits in search for money and 
valuables.^ It is to be presumed that these efibrts were at- 
tended with but little success, as no important results have been 
beard of as the consequence of this industry. 




COB-MONEY. 



The annals of the town, and the history of the Presbyterian 
church within its borders, would be incomplete without some 
account of the Rev. Anthony Paul, who, in the primitive days 
of the settlement, furnished religious instruction and consola- 
tion to a sparsely settled and not over devout pastorate, em- 
bracing all that region bordering upon the western shores, and 
southern extremity of Lake George ; and occasionally extend- 



* In the olden time specimens similar to those in the illustration were frequently 
found in the neighborhood of the picket posts and block houses. These fraprments 
were denominated cob-money from the resemblance of the stamp to the section of 
a corn cob, and were fragments of the old style cross pistareen. 

3 



18 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

ing his ministrations, as emergency demanded, among the wilder 
forests, and rocky declivities of Dresden and Putnam on the 
eastern borders of the lake. 

When he came here, and where from, where educated and 
admitted to the ministry, is, in great part, a matter of doubtful 
tradition, or questionable conjecture. 

According to the best information at hand, it is believed that 
he was a Mohican by birth, and quite probably a son of Moses 
Paul who was executed for murder at New Haven, Conn., on 
the 22d of September, 1772. His children claimed to be de- 
scended from the Stockbridge tribe, which of course is only 
another name for a branch of the same people. Anthony Paul's 
wife was a daughter of the celebrated Indian preacher Sampson 
Occum, in regard to whom I find the following in Drake's 
Book of the Indians. 

" Sampson Occum or Occom, was a Mohegan, of the family of 
Benoni Occum, who resided near New London, in Connecticut. 
He was the first of that tribe who was conspicuous in religion, 
if not the only one. He was born in 1723, and becoming at- 
tached to the Rev. Eleazer Wheelock, the minister of Lebanon 
in Connecticut, in 1741, he became a Christian. Possessing 
talents and great piety Mr. Wheelock entertained sanguine 
hopes that he would be able to eflect much among his country- 
men as a preacher of the gospel. He went to England in 1765, 
to procure aid for the keeping" up of a school for the instruction 
of Indian children, which was begun by Mr. Wheelock, and 
furthered by a Mr. Moore by a donation of a school house and 
land,' about 1763. While in England he was introduced to Lord 
Dartmouth, and other eminent persons. He preached there to 
crowds of people, and returned to America in 1768, having 
landed at Boston on his return. It is said he was the first 
Indian that preached in England. He was ordained, in 1759, 
a preacher to the Montauks on Long Island.^ About this time 
he visited the Cherokees. He fitially settled among the Oneida 
Indians, with many of his Mohegan brethren about 1768 ; they 
having been invited by the Oneidas. He died in July, 1792, at 
North Stockbridge, New York, aged 69." 

Stone, in his Life of Brant, states that the school at Dart- 
mouth was not opened until 1770, previous to which time. Dr. 

' For an extended account of his ministrations and services, see Dwight's Travels. 
vol. II, p. 99. 



SOME ACCOUNT OF FATHER PAUL. 19 

Wheelock had charge of the Moore Charity School, at Le- 
banon, Connecticut, at which Sampson Occam, the first Indian 
pupil, had been received about the year 17-43. It is supposed 
that Anthony Paul was one of Dr. Wheelock's pupils at Le- 
banon, and possibly pursued his divinity studies under the per- 
sonal supervision of Occum himself. It is conjectured that he 
removed to this region soon after the close of the revolutionary 
war, making his residence at first in the north part of Queens- 
bury, afterwards at Caldwell, and later on in Bolton, which 
latter place was the principal theatre of his ministerial labors. 

In a conversation, which the compiler of this work had some 
years ago with Mrs. Emma Goss, the daughter of Stephen 
Stevenson, she stated that her father moved to this town, when 
she was but three years old, which would make the time of re- 
moval in 1785. He settled, cut out a clearing, and erected 
a log house on the farm recently owned and occupied by Ste- 
phen Vaughn, on the Dunham's bay road, near which " old 
John Paul, an Indian, built his hut, and made it his home." 
. At this time, following her statement, there were only eighteen 
families residing in the whole town, and the extensive flats east 
and south, of her father's house were covered with a dense wilder- 
ness of majestic pines where the wolf and panther lurked in 
undisturbed security. Whether this John Paul was a member 
of Anthony Paul's family or not is uncertain. I have supposed 
him to be either a brother or son. Stevenson's name first ap- 
pears in the town records for 1795, 

Anthony Paul had children as follows, their names being 
presented in the supposed order of birth: Sampson, James, 
Phebe, Benoni, Jonathan called Daunt, and Henry. The iden- 
tity of two of the names with the Occum family is infereutially 
in favor of the claim of relationship. The children are repre- 
sented as being an idle dissipated lot, and though harmless and 
inoffensive, " prone to do evil," and caring little for religious 
observances or social restraints. Sampson's name appears in 
Judge Robards' docket for the year 1802, as defendant in a law 
suit ; and on the same docket, Anthony Paul is recorded as de- 
fendant in an action 18th March, 1805, David Osborne jr., a 
merchant at the Ridge, being the plaintift". 

Sampson, a few years later (about the year 1814), obtained a 
local notoriety for killing a panther with a fishing spear, ofi:" 
Grassy point in the town of Bolton. It was at the time of the 



20 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

breaking up of the ice in the spring. The animal, in a half 
starved, half frozen' condition, had floated near to the point, on 
a cake of ice, and in endeavoring to escape to the land, became 
entangled in the branches of an old tree top that had fallen partly 
in the lake. Sampson caught sight of the chilled and struggling 
brute, and seizing his fishing spear, the first weapon at hand, 
he ran down to the shore, and making his way out on the trunk 
of the tree, succeeded in thrusting the animal's head under 
water, and keeping it there, until it was drowned. The skin 
was carefully removed, stuffed, and for years afterwards graced 
the show rooms of the Albany Museum. 

I am indebted to the Rev. Courtney Smith, formerly of W"ar- 
rensburgh, for the following reminiscence of Father Paul. "I 
remember Paul, but my memory goes back to its extremest 
limit to authenticate his image. I must have been a wee bit 
of a boy, but on some public occasion, I have no idea what, 
which drew the public together, at the public house kept where 
the Mohican House is now kept, I seem to have been permitted 
to be there with my father or older brothers. While there, as 
I remember distinctly, a canoe came in from the lake, with a 
single man in it of medium height, somewhat stoutly built, and 
with the black hair and copper complexion of an Indian. He 
landed and walked up the bank with much deliberation and 
gravity of manner. It was the Indian preacher Paul, so I heard 
it remarked, and I deemed myself most fortunate in having 
seen him. ****** jj^ i^ad acquired a respectable 
education in some !N"ew England institution, I am much inclined 
to think it was in Connecticut, and was regularly licensed to 
preach. How, or when he found his way into the Bolton set- 
tlement I cannot say, but at a very early period he came among 
those few families in the wilderness. They were many of them 
from New England, with all the ISTew England appreciation of 
the gospel, and its institutions. As yet they were without a 
minister, and Paul coming with the requisite credentials, was 
invited to address them on the Sabbath, on the theme of reli- 
gion. He did so, and they were edified. He assisted them in 
burying their dead, and consoled them in their aflElictions, and 
became much respected. But alas ! The appetite which cha- 
racterizes his race ruined him. By an occasional indulgence 
in drink his appetite became fatally masterful. The fire-water 
burnt out his self respect, and he went down to the degradation 



SOME ACCOUNT OP THE PAUL FAMILY.' 21 

of the drunkard. Of course the people discarded him as a pub- 
lic teacher, and poor Paul disappeared from the scene." In a 
memorial commemorating a funeral among the early settlers, 
the Rev. Keuben Smith wrote concerning him. " The dread- 
ful habit increased, and at length our good deacons were obliged 
to tell him that it would not be for edification that he should offi- 
ciate in public any longer. He wept, tried reformation several 
times, fell again and again, and at length seemed to give up the 
attempt. He still clove to religion, however, in some sort, and 
even tried to preach in another connection." This was the 
Baptist Society, which, through the ministrations of Elder 
Bates, elsewhere alluded to, had attained a substantial and pro- 
sperous footing in the north part of this town. Father Paul 
officiated in a desultory sort of way, for several years, sinning 
and repenting, attempting reform and falling again, as many 
an one has done before him. On one occasion (my informant 
is Mr. Ralph S. Stebbins of Caldwell) ; " he made one of the 
most humble confessions ever heard out of the mouth of any 
human being. It was before his church brethren, and to use 
his own words, ' his bosom was literally drenched with tears.' 
A vote of forgiveness was unanimously given." At length, 
besotted with this vice, he abandoned his sacred calling, 
and gave himself up to the thraldom of his appetite. After 
dragging along a miserable existence for some years in his hut 
on Frenchman's point on the shore of the lake, about the year 
1816 he revisited with his wife, the scenes of his childhood and 
youth in Connecticut. On his return, he coasted leisurely along 
in his canoe, through Long Island sound, and up the Hudson 
as far as Kingston point, near Rondout, where he was taken 
sick and after a brief illness, died and was buried. It is sup- 
posed that his wife returned to her friends in Connecticut. It 
is estimated that he was about seventy years old at the time of 
his death. 

Sampson was married to a young and very pretty white girl 
of Whitehall. As the story goes, she was crossed in her afl:ec- 
tions in some way, and in a paroxysm of anger, declared that 
she " would marry the first man that asked her even if he was 
a negro." The speech came to Sampson's hearing, and before 
her temper had opportunity to take counsel of her judgment, 
he proposed, and she took the irrevocable step, which alienated 
her for life from her kindred and race. Two sons and one 



22 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

daughter named Christiana, were the fruit of this union. The 
latter was married to an Indian named Jaqua (called Jakeway) ; 
and is believed to be now living among the wilds of Putnam or 
Dresden on the east side of Lake George, opposite Sabbath Day 
point. 

Sampson died of inflammation of the lungs, at his cabin on 
the north bank of Smith brook in the north part of Cald- 
well, and was buried in a ground on the Harris farm, now 
belonging to Judge Edmonds in Bolton. 

Phebe married a man by the name of Wales, and, as their 
daughter and only child was taken care of, and brought up by 
the grandparents, it is assumed that the child's mother must 
have died during its infancy. 

James, while in a state of semi-intoxication was brutally 
drowned by a gang of rustic ruffians in McDonald's, since Gar- 
field's bay, Lake George. It was on a town meeting day, and 
the waters of the lake were chill ; under some pretext he was 
inveigled into the lake, or pushed in, and as he endeavored to 
grasp the only boat at hand, these human brutes would push it 
beyond his reach, until he was exhausted, and with Indian 
stoicism, he folded his arms and sunk to rise no more. The 
question of homicide was investigated by a grand jury, but no 
indictment was presented. — Hon. William Hay. 

Benoni was a soldier in the regular army, in the war of 1812- 
15, and died while in the service. Jonathan or Daunt as he 
was called, and Henry died at our county poor house. 

This completes the family record, so far as I have been able 
to trace it. This brief narrative, being chiefly a compilation 
from conflicting accounts, preserved in family traditions, or the 
memory of the oldest inhabitant, is doubtless faulty in many 
particulars. Faulty and imperfect as it may be, it is probably 
all that will be gathered concerning the last resident Indian 
family of this town. For a principal portion of the facts herein 
recorded I am indebted to the late Judge Hay of Saratoga 
Springs, and Mr. Ralph Stebbins of Caldwell. 




VOCABULARY OF INDIAN NAMES. 



Preliminary Kemarks. 

HE wilderness and lake region of Northern New York, 
was the common hunting ground for various tribes, 
where, during the unknown centuries preceding the 
discovery of the New World, divergent nationalities 
redressed their grievances and wrought out their forest feuds to 
their bitter end. 

It therefore naturally followed that the more important and 
often visited localities, would be honored by two or more names, 
having varying significations according to the accidents and 
events, often of a transitory character, from which they were 
derived. 

The corruptions and changes which the Indian terminology 
has undergone in its transitions through the not over grammatical 
speech of Dutch, French and Yankee traders and adventurers, 
have contributed largely to impede the labors of the ethnolo- 
gist, and added difficulties in the way of reaching just conclu- 
sions as to the derivation and meaning of words. 

To harmonize and systematize this nomenclature has been 
utterly impossible, and therefore in each case authorities and 
references have been given, leaving the reader to his own in- 
ferences, and devolving upon the originals the responsibility of 
errors and mistakes. Where two or more authorities have 
diflered, I have usually takfen those nearest the sources from 
which the names were derived. 

Until within a comparatively recent period, there were two 
noted Indians of the St. Francis tribe, who had their homes 
and hunting grounds in the great Adirondack wilderness. Their 
names were Sabele and Sabattis, and over a quarter of a century 
ago, they were severally reputed to be upwards of a hundred 
years old, both hale, and with wonderful memories of the past. 
From them years ago were obtained a portion of the names in- 



24 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OP QUEENSBURY. 

eluded in the following list, which with two exceptions are now 
given to the public for the first time. In the few instances 
where exact references are not given, the memoranda have been 
mislaid. 



Abenakis, ) A name according to Drake signifying " Men of the East," 

Abenakies. i and originally or formerly applied to all tlie tribes on the 
coast of the continent, but afterwards restricted to the Aborigines 
inhabiting Nova Scotia, the territory embraced in the present state 
of Maine, and a part of Canada. — Early Jesuit Missions hy Rt. 
Rev. Wm. I. Kip. According to Schoolcraft the name signifies 
" the east land, or place of light." The St. Francis Indians who 
occupied so conspicuous a place in our border annals during the 
old French war, were an offshoot or colony of this tribe. Sabele 
and Sabattis, some of whose descendants are still living in the 
northern wilderness, were also of this clan or sub-tribe. 

Adagegtinge, ) A brook in Davenport, Delaware Co., N. Y., one of the 

Adagughtingag. i tributaries of the Susquehanna. — Calendar of 
N. Y. Land Papers, pp. 490, 497. 

Adiquitange. a branch of the Susquehanna river in Kortright, Dela- 
ware County, N. Y. (probably the same stream named above). — 
Calendar of N. Y. Land Papers., p. 487. 

Adirondack. Tree Eaters. A name given in derision to the Algonquins 
by the Iroquois. — See Colonial Hist. N. Y., vol. IV, p. 899. 

Adirondack. A once powerful tribe of Indians of this name dwelt along 
the Canada shore of the St. Lawrence river. According to School- 
craft the name signifies " Bark-Eaters." It was a detachment 
of this tribe, headed by two distinguished chiefs Yroquet and 
Ochasteguin, that accompanied Samuel Champlain in his first 
voyage of discovery through the lake that bears his name, and 
fought a battle with a party of Iroquois on the headland at Ticoa- 
deroga. 

Aganuschion. " Black mountain range, as the Indians called this Adi- 
rondac group." — Lossing's Hudson, etc. Vide Aquanuschioni. 

Agiogochook. The White mountains of New Hampshire, of which the 
English name is a literal translation. 

Allnapooknapus. Indian lake in the northern wilderness. — Sabele. 

Andiatorocte. The place where the lake contracts. A name applied to 
Lake George. — Dr. 0' Callaghan's New Netherland. 

AONEO. An island. Onondaga. A term applied by that clan to the 
whole western continent, which their traditions state was expanded 
from the shell of a tortoise. — Schoolcraft's Notes, p. 61. 



VOCABULARY OF INDIAN NAMES. 25 

AONTAGILBAN. A creek which empties into Fish creek, Saratoga county. 

Taken from "map No. 221, of the late Fish creek reservation 

in 1706."— Sec. of State's office. 
Apalachian. Endless mountains. — 0' Callaghan, Doc. Hist. iV. Y., 

II, 702. This is the true Indian name of the great Alleghany range. 
Aquantjschioni. The united people. A name by which the Iroquois 

designated themselves. — Drake's Book of the Indians, v, 4. 
Areyuna. Green rocks. Tupper's lake. — C. F. Hoffman. Vigil of Faith. 
AsTORENGA. The name of the hills at Little Falls. — Schoolcraft's Notes 

on the Iroquois, 78. 
Atalapose. a sliding place. Roger's rock on Lake George. The In- 
dians have a singular superstition, that the witches or evil spirits 

haunt this place, and seizing upon the spirits of bad Indians, on 

their way to the happy hunting grounds, slide down the precipitous 

cliff with them into the lake where they are drowned. — Sahattis. 
Atatea. (See Cohatatea). A river. The upper Hudson. — Charles Fenno 

Hoffman. 
Attigouanton. Lake Huron. — Murray's British America, I, 150. 
Bontookeese. Little Falls at Luzerne on the Hudson. — Sabele. 
Cahohatatea. Iroquois. The North or Hudson river. — Dr. Mitchill, 

quoted in Annals of Albany, ii, 233. 
Canada. From Kanata, a village. — Dr. F. B. Hough. Josselyn, an 

early colonial writer, derives this from Can, mouth, and Ada, 

country. — Drake's Book of the Indians, l, 23. 
Canarage. The St. Lawrence river. — Macauley's Hist. N. Y., i, 98. 
Canashagala. An Indian name of a clearing on a south branch of Moose 

river near Moose lake in Hamilton Co.,N. Y. — Simms's Trappers, 

188. 
Caniaderi Guarunte. a name applied to Lake Champlain. The door 

or gate of the country. See Canada. — T. Pownal's Map and To- 
pographical Description. 
Caniaderi Oit. The tail of the lake i. e., of Lake Champlain. — Ibid. 

Also Spafford's Gazetteer, p. 200. 
Cankuskee. North-West bay on Lake George. So named on a Map of 

the Middle British Provinces, London, 1776. See Ganaouske. 
Canneogahakalononitade. The Mohawk river. — Dr. Mitchill, Annals 

of Albany, ii, 233. 
Canniuskutty. a creek. A tributary of the Delaware river. — Calendar 

of N. Y. Land Papers, p. 501. 
Catarakoui. Iroquois. Great or big lake (vide Cataraqui). — Colonial 

Hist. ofN. Y, vol. X, p. 503. 
Cataraqui. The St. Lawrence river, signifying a fort in the water. Dr. 

Hough states that Cataroqui, is the ancient name of Kingston, 

a bank of clay rising out of the waters. — Hist. St. Lawrence 

and Franklin Counties, 181. 
4 



26 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

Caughnawaga. Cook the kettle. — Doc. Hist, of N. Y., iii, 1108. The 
name of one of the Mohawk villages, and afterwards applied to a 
colony or tribe of praying Indians, converts from the Iroquois. 
Gallatin in his synopsis supposes it to be derived from Coughnuh- 
woh her leh, a Mohawk word signifying rapids. 

Catwanoot. Isola Bella. The residence of the late Col. Ireland in 
Schroon lake. — Lossing's Hudson, 52. 

Chatiemac. The stately swan. One of the names of the Hudson. — 
Schoolcraft, The Indian in his Wigwam, 122. 

Cheonderoqa. Signifying three rivers, one of the many names of Ticon- 
deroga. From a map by T. Pownal, 31. P., Land., 1776. 

Chepontuc. a difl&cult place to climb or get around. An Indian name 
of Glen's Falls. — Sabattis. 

Chicopee. a large spring. An Indian name of Saratoga Springs. — 
Sabattis. 

Chouendabowa. Clifton Park, Saratoga Co., N. Y. — Catalogue of Maps 
in State Library, p. 205. 

Cohatateah. Another Indian name of the Hudson. — A. B. Street. 

Cohetaba. Iroquois name of the Hudson. — Gordon's Gazetteer of N. T. 

CoHOES. From Cahoos, a canoe falling. — Brant. Spafford's Gazetteer 
of N. T., p. 170. Morgan in his League of the L'oquois, has it 
Gahahoose. 

CoNGAMMUCK. The lower Saranac lake. — Sabattis. 

CoNNESTiGUNE. Hence Niskayuna. A field covered with corn. — Gor- 
don's Gazetteer. 

CoNNUGHHARiEGUGHnARiE. A great multitude gathered together, Mo- 
hawk name for Schenectady. — Stone's Life of Bed Jacket, p. 5. 

Coos or CoWHASS. The white piae. — Dr. Fitch. Applied to a region of 
country in the northern part of New Hampshire, sometimes named as 
the upper and lower Coos or pine regions. 

CORLAR. Lake Champlain was known to the Dutch by this name, and 
also as the lake of the Iroquois. 

CosSAYUNA. The lake at our pines. Indian name of a sheet of water in 
Argyle, N. Y. — Vide Dr. Fitch's Hist. Survey of Washington 
County, in Trans. N. Y. S. Agricultural Soc. for 1849. , 

COUCHSACHRAGA. The great dismal wilderness. An Indian term applied 
to the still wild and unsettled region north of the Mohawk, and 
west of Lakes Champlain and George. — Pownal' s Topographical 
Description. 

CouxSACHRAGA. " Their hunting grounds {i. e. the Iroquois), are first 
Coxsachraga, a triangle lying on the south-east side of Canada, 
or St. Lawrence river, bounded eastward by Saragtoga, and the 
drowned lands ; northward by a line from llegiochue point (on 
Lake Champlain, or as the Indians call it; Caniaderiguarunte, the 



VOCABULARY OF INDIAN NAMES. 27 

lake that is the gate of the country), through the Cloven rock on 
the same lake to Oswegatchie or la Gralette ; south-westward by the 
dwelling land of the Mohawks, Oneidas and Tuscaroras." — Pownal 
on Colonies^ vol. I, p. 267, Lond., 1774. 

DiONONDEHOWA. The lower falls on the Battenkill river near and above 
the devil's caldron, Galesville, N. Y. — Dr. Fitch's Hist. Survey of 
Washington County. Also see Calendar of Land Titles, p. 204. 

Erie. " The Agoneaseah (Iroquois), anciently called this Lake Kan-ha- 
gwa-rah-ka, i. e., a cap, and latterly Erie, Erige, or Erike, which, 
according to Hennepin signifies Cats-eye." — Macauley's Hist. N. Y. 
vol. I, p. 119. Morse in his large Geography defines it as the lake 
of the Cats. 

GrAiSHTiNic. The Minci name for Albany. — H. R. Schoolcraft. 

Ganaouske. North West bay on Lake George. — Colonial Hist. N. T., 
vol. X, p. 600. Judging from analogy, this should mean the battle 
place by the water side. 

Ga-na-sa-da-GA, T. The St. Lawrence river. So named on Morgan's 
map of the Iroquois. — League of the Iroquois. 

Ganoonoo. The territory comprised in the state of New York. Dr. Hough, 
in his History of St. Lawrence and Franklin Counties., has it Ka- 
nono. The word is Iroquois, and is defined elsewhere as meaning 
the whole state. 

GiTCH Igomee. Big Sea Water. The Algonquin name for Lake Supe- 
rior. — Schoolcraft' s Indian in his Wigwam, p. 303. 

Glen's Falls, mentioned on a French map by M. de Levy published at 
Quebec, 1748, by the name of Chute de Quatrevignt, Pds. — 
Doc. Hist. N. Y., vol. I, p. 557. 

HoCHELAGA. This name was applied by the Algonquins to the site now oc- 
cupied by Montreal, and also to the St. Lawrence river. Hough 
suggests its derivation from Oserake, a beaver dam. — Hist. St. 
Lawrence and Franklin Counties, p. 181. 

HoosACK. The place of stones, i. e., a rocky or stony region. — Rutten- 
her's Indian Tribes, p. 376. It has also been defined as a basin 
or kettle. Indian tradition states that the last naked bear was 
killed at this point. 

HousATONic. A Mohegan compound, probably signifying the valley of 
the stream beyond the mountain. — H. R. Schoolcraft. 

HouTKiLL. Dutch name of Wood creek. — Doc. Hist, of iV". Y, vol. II, 
p. 300. 

HuNCKSOOCK. The place where everybody fights. A name given by the 
nomadic Indians of the north to the upper falls on the outlet of 
Lake George. — Sabattis. 

Huron. A French appellation bestowed upon the lake bearing this name 
and also to the tribe of Wyandots living on its banks. — Schoolcraft. 



28 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

Incapahceo. Lindenmere or the lake of basswoods. The Indian name 
of Long lake. — The Vigil of Faith hy C. F. Hoffman. 

Irocosia. The land of the Iroquois. Northern New York. This term 
frequently recurs on the older maps and charts of the state. 

Irondequoit. Derived from a Mohawk term signifying an opening into 
or from a lake. — Colonial History N. Y., vol. ix, p. 261. 

Kahcheboncook. The Big Falls on the Hudson, known as Jessup's 
falls. — Sabele. 

Kahchoquahna. The place where they dip fish. An Indian term ap- 
plied to the head of Lake Champlain, the site of the present vil- 
lage of Whitehall. — Gordon's Gazetteer iV. T., p. 758. 

Kaniadarosseras. Hence Kayaderosseras, the lake country. — Colonial 
Hist. N. Y., vol. VII, p. 436. 

Kaskongshadi. Broken water, a swift rapid on the Opalescent river. — 
Jjossing's Hudson, p. 33. 

Kayaderoga. a name of Saratoga lake. — Butler's Lake George, etc. 

Kayaderosseras. A name applied to a large patent or land grant, a 
stream and a range of mountains in Saratoga county, N. Y. In 
the Calendar of N. P". ia«c? Papers, it is variously written Caniader- 
osseros, Caneaderosseras, Kanyaderossaros, Cayaderosseras. In a 
letter to the author from the late Judge Hay, he says " Geo 
Gr. Scott informs me that his father always stated that Kayader- 
osseras being interpreted meant the crooked stream, which de- 
scribes it." 

Kennyetto. The Indian name of the little Sacandaga or Vlaie creek, a 
tributary of the Sacandaga. — Simms's Trappers of N^ew York. 

KiLLOQUAH. Rayed like the sun. Racket lake. From the Mohawk. 
Vigil of Faith by C. F. Hoffman. 

KiNGiAQUAHTONEC. A portage of a stone's throw or two in length be- 
tween Wood creek and Fort Edward creek, near Moss street in 
Kingsbury. — Evans's Analysis, p. 19. 

KiTCHiGAMMiNK. Great lake. — Gallatin's Synopsis. See Gitch-Igomee. 

Mahakaneghtuc. The Mohegan name of the Hudson. — Br. Mitchill, 
quoted in MunselVs Annals of Albany, vol. ll, p. 233. The name 
is given by numerous authorities with many varieties of spelling. 

Mais Tchuseag. Massachusetts ? " The country on this side of the 
hills." — T. Pownal's Top. Descrip. N. America, Land., 1776. 

Mammacotta. Dividing the waters, hence Mamacating in Sullivan 
county. — Gordon's Gazetteer JV. Y, p. 719. 

Massachusett. a hill in the form of an arrow-head. — John Cotton as 
quoted in Drake's Book of the Indians. 

Mastaqua. The largest or longest river. A name applied to the Racket 
river. — Sabattis. 



VOCABULARY OF INDIAN NAMES. 29 

Matteawan. Derived from Metai, a magician or medicine man, and wian, 

a skin, the region of charmed furs or peltries. A term applied 

to the highlands of the Hudson. — Brodhead's N. T., p. 75. . 
Messachibie. Mississippi ? The father of rivers. — T. Pownal's Top. 

Descrtp. iV! America. 
Mettowee. Indian name of the Pawlet river. Wash. Co., N. Y. — Fitch's 

Hist. Survey. 
Miconacook. a name of the Hudson river. — Sahele. 
MiNi-SoTAH. Turbid waters, hence Minnesota. — Drake's Book of the 

Indians. 
Mississippi. The whole river. — Gallatin's Synopsis. 
Mohawk, from Mauqua or Mukwa, a bear. — Schoolcraft's Notes on the 

Iroquois, p. 73. 
Mohegan. Mahegan, an Indian term signifying a wolf. — Col. Hist. iV. Y., 

vol. IX, p. 38. 
MoospoTTENWACHO. Thunder's nest. Indian name for Crane's mount- 
ain, in the western part of, and the highest peak in Warren 

county. — Sahele. 
MuHHAAKUNNUK. A great water or se» that is constantly in motion 

either ebbing or flowing. Hence the word Mohican, the name of 

the Stockbridge Indians. — Hoyt's Antiquarian Researches. 
Nachassickquaack. A point above the falls on the Hoosick river. — 

New York Cal. of Land Papers, p. 27. 
Naohtenack. Waterford on the Hudson. — Ruttenher's Tribes, e^c, p. 399. 
Niagara. From Ohniagahra, a neck or strait. — Spafford's Gazetteer of 

N. Y., p. 219. Goldsmith in his Miscellaneous Works, vol. IV, 

p. 39, note, defines it as meaning thunder waters. 
NiSKAYUNA. From Canestagione. The great corn country or place. — 

Ruttenher's Tribes of the Hudson's River, p. 398. See also vol. 

IV, p. 906, Col. Hist. N Y, where it is spelled Canastagiowne and 

defined as the great maize land. 
Ohio. The beautiful river. — Schoolcraft, the Indian in his Wigwam, p. 

20. From Oyo the beautiful river. — Kip's Jesuit Missions. See 

also Col. Hist. N Y, viii, 117 and ix, 76, where lo is found to 

signify great or beautiful. 
OiOGUE. The Indian (Mohawk) name of the Hudson north of Albany. — 

Hist, of New Netherland, II, 300. 
Oneadalote Tecarneodi. The name of Lake Champlain on Morgan's 

map. 
Ondawa. White creek, Washington county, N. Y. 
Onderiguegon. The Indian name for the drowned lands on Wood creek 

near Fort Ann, Washington county, N. Y. It signifies conflux of 

waters. — From a Map of the Middle British Colonies by T. Pow- 

nal, M. P., 1776. 



30 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

Onqwehonwe. a people surpassing all others. The name by which the 
Iroquois designated themselves, 

Onigarawantel. According to Schoolcraft the original name of Sche- 
nectady. According to Dr. Mitchill the rendering should be 
Ohnowalagantle. — Vide Annals of Albany, li, 233. 

Ontario " or Cataraqui. The beautiful lake." — T. PownaVs Top. De- 
scrip. N. A., p. 31. See also Col. Hist., Ix, 16, where it is trans- 
lated beautiful lake, and ix, 76 where it is rendered Great lake. 
Hough makes it Onontario, which would change the meaning to 
Mountain lake. 

Orongughharie. a great multitude collected together. The site of the 
city of Schenectady, originally a seat of the Mohawks. — Gordon's 
Gazetteer of New York. 

Ossaragas. Wood creek, emptying into the head of Lake Champlain. — 
Top. Descrip. of the Middle British Colonies, Map, T. Pownal, 1776. 

OsWEGATCHiE, or Oghswagatchie with a dozen other different spellings. 
" An Indian name," the historian James Maoauley, informed the 
author, "which &\^n\^Q^ going or coming round a hill. The great 
bend in the Oswegatchie river (or the necessity of it), on the 
borders of Lewis county, originated its significant name. An In- 
dian tribe bearing the name of the river, once lived upon its banks ; 
but its fate, like that of many sister tribes, has been to melt away 
before the progression of the Anglo-Saxon." — Simms's Trappers of 
N. Y., p. 249, note. According to a writer in the Troy Times of 
July 7th, 1866, it is a Huron word signifying black water. 
Sabattis defined it as meaning slow and long. 

Otsiketa. Lake St. Clair. — PownaVs Map of Middle British Provinces, 
1776. 

OuKORLAH. Indian name of Mount Seward, signifying the big-eye. — 
C. F. Hoffman. 

OuNOWARLAH. Scalp mountain. Supposed to refer to that peak of the 
Adirondacks known as Whiteface mountain. — C. F. Hoffman in 
The Vigil of Faith. 

Owerihowet. Indian name applied to a creek, a branch of the Susque- 
hanna. — Calendar N. Y. Land Papers, p. 501. 

Paanpaack. The Indian name for the locality covered by the city of 
Troy. — O'Callaghan's New Netherland, I, 180. 

Pangaskolink. Griens Falls, N. Y. — Sabele. 

Papaquanetuck. The river of Cranberries. One of the names of the 
Ausable river. — Sabattis. 

Paskongammuc. Pleasant or beautiful lakes. A term applied to the 
three Saranac lakes. — Sabattis. 

Pattougammuck. The middle Saranac lake. — Sabattis. 



VOCABULARY OF INDIAN NAiMES. 31 

Peeleeweemowquesepo. The Black river. The stream that separates 
the Mohawk from the St. Lawrence river. — Hough's Hist. St. 
Lawrence and Franklin Counties. 

Pempotawuthut. The place of fire, or fire place of the nation. The pre- 
sent site of Albany, and once the chief seat of the Mohegan 
tribe. — Hoyt's Antiquarian Researches. 

Petaonbough. " A double pond or lake branching out into two." An 
Indian name of Lake Champlain, which refers probably to its con- 
nection with Lake George. — R, W. Livingston, quoted in Watson's 
Hist. Essex Co., N. Y. 

Petowahco. Lake Champlain. — Sahele. 

Petaquapoen. Indian term applied to the site of Greenbush opposite 
Albany. — Euttenher's Indian Tribes, p. 375. 

PiSECO. An aboriginal name for a lake of considerable magnitude in 
Hamilton Co., N. Y. " The Indians speak it as though written 
Pe-sic-o ; giving a hissing sound to the second syllable. It is derived 
from pisco a fish, and therefore signifies fish lake. — John Dunham. 
Piseco, says Spafford in his Gazetteer of New York, and which 
he spells Pezeeko, is so called after an old Indian hermit who dwelt 
upon its shores." — Simnis's Trappers of New York,^. IQ"^, note. 
Snhattis says that it was called after an Indian bearing that name. 

PiTTOWBAQONK. Lake Champlain. The dividing waters between the 
east and west and north of the Hudson. — Sahattis. 

PoPQUASSlC. Indian name'of Lansingburgh. — Euttenher's Indian Tribes, 
p. 375. 

QuEQUiCKE. The falls on the Hoosick river. — Calendar of N. Y. Land 
Papers, p. 27. 

QuONEHTiQUOT. Loug rivcr. Corrupted to Connecticut. — Morse's Uni- 
versal Geography. 

Raquette. " The chief source of the Raquette is in the Raquette lake 
towards the western part of Hamilton county. Around it, the 
Indians in the ancient days gathered on snow shoes in winter, to 
hunt the moose then found there in large droves, and from that 
circumstance they named it Raquet, the equivalent in French 
for snow shoes in English. This is the account of the origin of its 
name given by the French Jesuits who first explored that region. 
Others say that its Indian name Ni-ha-na-wa-le, means a racket or 
noise, noisy river, and spell it Racket. But it is no more noisy than 
its near neighbor the Grass river which flows into the St. Lawrence 
from the bosom of the same wilderness." — Lossing's Hudson, p. 11. 

RoTSiiCHNi. An Indian name of Lake Champlain signifying the cow- 
ard spirit. An evil spirit, according to the legend, whose ex- 
istence terminated on an island in Lake Champlain. The name 
was thence derived to the lake. 



32 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

Sacandaqa, Sagendage, Sackondaga, Sackondago, Sacondaga, Sacondago, 
Sachondage, Sachendaga ( Vide Galendar of N. Y. Land Papers) ; 
" is an aboriginal word, which signifies," as the Indians assured 
Godfrey Shew, much water. Capt. Gill, an Indian hunter, said 
it meant sunken or drowned lands. — Simms's Trappers of New 
York, p. 42. In Spafford's Gazetteer of New York, p. 89, it is 
defined as a swamp, and asserted to be derived from the Oneida 
dialect. 

Sanahagoq. The Indian name of Rensselaerswyck. — 0' Callaghan's Hist. 
Neio Netherland, I, 122. 

Sanatatea. The Hudson river. — Schoolcraft's Notes on the Iroquois, p. 
69. 

Sand anon A. A mountain near Lake Henderson in the Adirondacks. — 
The Vigil of Faith hy C. F. Hoffman. 

Saratoga. Vide General Index to documents relating to the history of 
the state of New York for seventeen different spellings of this word. 
See also Calendar of N. Y. Land Papers, where it is found spelled 
Saragtoga, Saraghtoga, Saraghtogue, etc. Morgan renders it on 
his map in the League of the Iroquois Sharlatoga. Hough, in the 
Hist, of JSt. Lawrence and Franklin Counties, has it Saratake, 
while Ruttenher, in his Indian tribes of the Hudson, on what au- 
thority is not stated, derives it from Saragh, salt, and Oga a place, 
though he adds that " the name was originally applied to the site 
of Schuylerville, and meant swift water," an assertion which greatly 
impairs the value of the preceding statement. Gordon, in his 
Gazetteer of New York, p. 671, derives the word from Sah-ra-kah, 
meaning the great hill side, and states that it was applied to the 
country between the lake and the Hudson river. An anonymous 
writer in the Troy Times of July 7, 1866, defines it as a place 
where the track of the heel may be seen. 

SCHAGHTICOKE. In Spafford's Gazetteer, p. 293, this is derived from 
Scaughwank and defined as a sand slide, with the statement that the 
final syllable cook was added by the Dutch. O'Callaghan in his 
works, quotes about twenty-five different spellings of the word. 
Ruttenber derives it from Pishgachticook a Mohican appelative 
meaning the confluence of two streams, and applied to the Indian 
village at the mouth of the Hoosick, and also to a settlement on 
the Housatonic. — Indian Tribes of the Hudson, p. 195. Gordon 
derives it from Scacoghwank and gives it the same signification as 
Spafford. — Gazetteer, p. 645. 

SouENECHTADT. Various spellings. The aboriginal name of Albany, 
" which signifies the place the natives of the Iroquois arrived at by 
traveling through the pine trees." — Dr. 3Iitchill, quoted in MunselVs 
Annals of Albany, ii, 333. Hough, ut supra, makes it Skanatati, 



VOCABULARY OP INDIAN NAMES. 33 

" on the other side of the pinea." Stone, in his Life of Red 
Jacket, p, 5, writes it Scaghnacktada, beyond the pine plains. 
Spafford translates it, " over the pines." — Gazetteer, p. 100. 

ScHBNEGHTADB. Bejond (or at the other side of) the door. — Ool. Hist. 
N. Y., vol. 2, p. 594. 

SOHODACK, " A derivation from the Mohegan word ischoda," a meadow, 
or fire plain. This was anciently the seat of the council fire of the 
Mohegans upon the Hudson. They extended their villages along 
the eastern bank of the stream as high as Lansingburgh, and their 
hunting grounds occupied the entire counties of Columbia and 
Rensselaer. — Lossing's Hudson, p. 102. 

ScHROON from Skaghnetaghrowahna, or " the largest lake." — Gordon's 
Gazetteer, p. 453. Written " Scaroon " on some of the earlier 
maps, and it has been alleged, on what seems a very slender foun- 
dation, that the name was conferred in the latter part of the 17th 
century by a wandering party of Frenchmen in honor of Madame 
de Maintenon the wife of the poet Scarron. 

ScowAROCKA. The Indian name of the northern termination of " Maxon- 
hill," Greenfield, N. Y. — Simms's Trappers of New York. 

Senhahlone The village of Plattsburgh. — Sahattis. 

Senongewok. A hill like an inverted kettle, familiarly known as " the 
Potash," on the east side of the Hudson river about four miles 
north of Luzerne village, Warren Co., N. Y. — Vigil of Faith hy 
G. F. Hoffman. 

Shanandhoi. Indian name of Clifton park. — Laws of New York, 1795. 

Shatemuck. The Mohegan name of the Hudson river. — Washington 
Irving. Believed to be derived from a word meaning pelican. 
The name was applied to the Hudson below Dutchess county. — 
H. R. Schoolcraft. 

Sheepshaak. An Indian name of Lansingburgh. — Ruttenher's Indian 
Tribes, p. 375. 

Shegwiendawkwe. a cascade on the Opalescent river, signifying 
"the hanging spear." — Lossing's Hudson, p. 32. 

Shenondehowa. Ranging in a north line from Schenectady river, and 
adjoining the easternmost bounds of Nastigiuna Patent (Clifton 
Park, Sar. Co., N. Y.).— iV". Y. Calendar of Land Papers, p. 82. 

SiNHALONEiNNEPUS. Large and beautiful lake. A term applied to the 
upper Saranac lake. — Sahattis. 

Skanehtadb, Gt. The west branch of the Hudson river and the river 
generally. — Morgan's map in the League of the Iroquois. 

Skanadario. Lake Ontario. A very pretty lake. — Frontenac, a Poem 
hy Alfred B. Street. 

Skmowahco. Schroon river. — Sabele. 



34 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

Sknoonapus. Schroon lake. — Sabele. 

Squinanton. Cumberland head on Lake Champlain. — Calendar of K. Y. 
Land Papers, p. 474. 

Taescameasick. Indian name for the site of Lansingburgh. — Ruttenher's 
Indian Tribes, p. 375. 

Tahawas. Mount Marcy, Essex Co., N. Y. The highest peak in the 
state. " He splits the sky.'"— The Vigil of Faith by C. F. Hoff- 
man. 

Takundewide. Indian name of Harris's bay on Lake George. So called 
on a Tnap of the Middle British Provinces by T. Pownal, M. P., 
Lond., 1776. 

Tawalsontha. The Norman's kill, a little below Albany — 0' Callaghan's 
New Netherlands vol. I, p. 78. Otherwise called Towasentha 
which is " an abbreviation of Toowasentha, the Mohawk word for 
falls." — Gallatin^s Synopsis. 

Tawassagunshee. The Lookout hill. An elevation within two miles of 
Albany, where the Dutch erected a trading post before Fort 
Orange was built. — Barber^ s Hist. Coll., p. 46. 

Teckyadough Nigarige. The Indian name for the narrows between 
Ticonderoga and Crown Point, forming the entrance to the lake 
proper. — T. PownaVs Top. Descrip. of N. A., Lond., 1776. On 
a map in the same work it is defined as " two points opposite to 
each other," and applied to Fort St. Frederick, now Crown Point. 
It is quite probable that the much discussed word Ticonderoga is 
derived from this term. 

Tenonanatchie. a river flowing through a mountain. A name applied, 
to the Mohawk river by the western tribes. — H. R. Schoolcraft. 

Teohoken. The pass where the Schroon finds its confluence with the 
Hudson river. — The Vigil of Faith by C. F. Hoff'man. See also 
Col. Hist. N ¥., vol. VII, p. 10, where it is defined as the forks 
of a river. 

Ticonderoga. There are about twenty renderings of the orthography of 
this word, and wide diiferences of meaning assigned to it. Those 
most worthy of acceptance are given herewith. Tienderoga. " The 
proper name of the fort between Lake George and Lake Champlain 
signifies the place where two rivers meet" — Colden's Account of 
N. Y., Col. Hist.N. Y., VII, 795. " Tiaontoroken, a fork or point 
between two lakes" — Hough! s Hist. St. Lawrence and Franklin 
Counties, p. 181. Morgan, on his map, frequently referred to 
herein, spells it " Je hone ta lo ga," Teahtontaloga and Teondeloga 
are both defined as " two streams coming together." The sound 
and structure of the three words are similar. The definition given 
by Colden is doubtless correct. 



VOCABULARY OF INDIAN NAMES. 35 

TiQHTiLLiGAGHTiKOOK. The south branch of the Batten kill. — Calendar 

of N. Y. Land Papers, 303. 
TiosARONDA. The meeting of the waters. The confluence of the Sacan- 

daga with the Hudson. — The Vigil of Faith hy C. F. Hoffman. 
ToMHENACK. A creek in the town of Cambridge, Washington county, 

N. Y. — Calendar of N. T. Land Papers, p. 290. 
ToowARLOONDAH. The Hill of Storms, Mt. Emmons. — The Vigil of 

Faith, C F. Hoffman. 
TuscAMEATic. Indian name for Greenbush, opposite Albany, N. Y. — 

0' Callaghan's Hist. New Netherland, vol. I, p. 380. 
Wahcoloosencoochaleva. Fort Edward. — Sahele. 
Wahopartenie. Whiteface mountain. — C. F. Hoffman. 
Wahpole Sinegahu. The portage from the Upper Saranac lake to the 

Racket river. — Sahattis. 
Wawkwaonk. The head of Lake George, Caldwell. — Sahele. 
WoMPACHOOKGLENOSUCK. Whitehall, Wash. Co., N. Y. — Sahele. 



CIVIL LIST OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 



N. B. — The names embraced in this catalogue, are of those orUy, who have been at 
some period residents of the town of Queetisbury. 



UNITED STATES CIRCUIT JUDGE. 
Emmons, Halmer H., (a) — 1870. 

UNITED STATES MINISTER TO SPAIN. 
Sickles, Daniel E., (6) — 1869. 



(a) Son of Adonijah and Hakriet S. Emmons, was born on the 22d of Novem- 
ber, 1813, in the older portion of the dwelling now owned and occupied by J. W. 
Finch, Esq. The elder Emmons was a lawyer, editor and postmaster, and an 
active, influential politician of the bucktail school, also a man of more than ordi- 
nary mental calibre and abihty. He was charged with the authorship of the 
calumnies which reflected so severely upon the public life and character of De Witt 
Clinton, and incurred the oaium and hostility resulting therefrom. Later on, he 
removed to Sandy Hill, where, in 1825, he engaged in the publication of a partisan 
sheet called The Sandy Hill Sun, which afterwards became the rabid organ of the 
anti masonic party. 

In early youth the son went to Essex Co., N. Y., where he commenced the study 
of law in the ofiice of Judge Ross. Following the tide of emigration, the family, 
in 1838, went west, and settled in Detroit, Mich., where father and son formed a 
legal copartnership, and at once opened upon a large and remunerative practice. 
The death of the elder Emmons in 1843, left the younger to make his own way 
unaided, from triumph to triumph, through a series of cases involving large inte- 
rests and widely extended relations, to the very summit of professional eminence 
and success. 

(6) Son of George G. Sickles whose name appears in the town records for the 
year 1832, and who carried on the mercantile business in the stone store vmder the 
hill, from 1831 to 1834. He afterwards removed to New York, where he opened a 
broker's oflice. The son is remembered by many of the older residents of the village 
as a bright, active, and somewhat unruly lad, who dominated over his playmates, 
and gave early promise of a brilliant and controlling mind. 

He removed with his father to New York, about the year 1835, studied law, was 
admitted to the bar, and for many years thereafter was known as one of the Tam- 
many leaders, and an active, indomitable partisan. Was elected to the Assembly in 
1847, to the Senate in 1856-7, and from 1857 to '61 represented the third New 
York district in the xxxvth and xxxvith Congress. It was during the first 
term of his congressional service that he obtained an unenviable notoriety by the 
assassination of Philip Barton Key. At the outbreak of the rebellion in 1861 , he lent 



CIVIL LIST. 37 



UNITED STATES COMMISSIONER OF SOUTHERN CLAIMS. 
Ferriss, Orange, — , 1871. 

REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS. 

Ferriss, Orange,— 1867-9,-1869-71. xl and xli Congress. 

Martindale, Henry C.i— 1823-5,— 1825-7,— 1827-9,— 1829-31',— 
1833-5, xviii-xix-xx-xxi-and xxiii. Congress. 

Russell, Joseph, 1845-7,— 1851-3,— xxix,— and xxxii, Congress. 

Sickles, Daniel E.,2 1857-9,— 1859-61,— xxxv— and xxxvi Con- 
gress. 

COLLECTORS OF INTERNAL REVENUE. 

Cheritbee, Andrew J., — , 1372. Faxon, Walter A., — , 1862. 
Cunningham, John L., — , 1866. Rockwell, William W., — , 1869. 

DEPUTY COLLECTORS. 

Cunningham, John L., — , 1867. Johnson, Emmett, — , 1867. 

Faxon, Charles H., — , 1862. Broughton, Charles H.,— , 1873. 
HoTCHKiss, William, — , 1869. 

ASSISTANT ASSESSORS. 

Briggs, William, — , 1862. Goodman, Stephen L., — , 1869. 

N. B. — The oflSices of Assessor and Assistant were abolished May, 1873. 

an active and cordial support to the government and was largely instrumental in 
raising the famous Excelsior Brigade. He and his command won distinguished 
honors in many severe engagements. He was several times wounded, and lost 
his leg in a daring charge made at the battle of Gettysburg, of which great and 
important action, he has been justly styled the hero. He was promoted succes- 
sively to the position of division and corps commander, and was one of the few 
civilians who attained the distinction of a major general's commission. After the 
termination of the war, he again became conspicuous in the arena of politics, aid- 
ing largely in the election of Gen. Grant in the heated political contest of 1868. 

As a recognition of his distinguished abilities and services, he received the follow- 
ing year the appointment of minister to Spain. After the Revolution and the decla- 
ration of the Spanish Republic, Gen. Sickles very ably represented our government 
and people in recognizing the new order of things. In consequence of the Cuban 
complications, he has recently resigned his position ; and his return home will 
doubtless be welcomed by fresh honors and successes. 



> Elected from the Eighteenth Congressional District ; Judge Martindale being then a resident 
of Sandy Hill. 
^ Elected from the Third Congressional District, city of New York. 



38 



HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 



PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORS. 



Clark, Billy J., (a). 
Cool, Keyes P., 
Morgan, Alonzo W., 
MoTT, Isaac, 



— , 1848 Pettit, Micajah, — , 1808. 

— , 1840. (Appointed), 

— , 1864. Sheldon, N. Edson (6), — , 1860. 
— 1872. 



(a) Billy J., son of Ithamar and Sarah (Simonds) Clark, was born at Nortli- 
ampton, Mass., on the fourth of January, 1778. 

About the year 1784 his parents removed to Williamstown, Mass., where, for 
three or four years he enjoyed the benefits of that public school founded by the 

munificence of Col. Williams, who 
fell in action at " the bloody morning 
scout." At the age often he removed 
with his parents to Pownal, Vt., 
where his youth, up to the time of 
his father's death, was passed in the 
varied avocations of farm boy, clerk 
and bar-tender. His medical studies 
were commenced at the age of seven- 
teen in the office of Dr. Gibbs of 
Pownal, where he was soon charac- 
terized as a pains-taking, indefatiga- 
ble student. In 1797 he removed to 
Easton, Washington Co., N. Y., 
where his studies were continued in 
the oflSce of Dr. Lemuel Wicker, a 
practitioner at that time of exten- 
sive repute and practice. 
Having obtained the requisite tes- 
timonials, and passed the necessary 
examinations, he obtained a license 
from the county judge of Washington 
county to practice medicine. He 
commenced his life work in the town 
of Moreau, Saratoga Co., N. Y., in 
1799, where, for forty years, he was 
the only physician, and supplied a 
radius of country nearly twenty miles in extent, following the humanities of his 
calling, achieving a well earned reputation for usefulness, and that by the popu- 
larly appreciated gauge of success, a substantial competency. 

Dr. Clark's name will be famous through all time as the originator of the first 
temperance organization that ever existed. The date of this important event was 
in the early part of April, 1808. In this field of philanthropy, the doctor was an 
ardent and efficient laborer all his life. He represented his county in the assembly 
in 1820, and, as above appears was a member of the New York Electoral College 
in 1848. He died in this village on the 20th of September, 1866. 

Through his energy and perseverance, a special act of legislature was obtained, 
incorporating the Saratoga County Medical Society, the first organization of the 
kind in the state. 

(&) Nathaniel Edson Sheldon was the youngest of ten children, the offspring 
of Job and Joanna C. (Trippe) Sheldon, who migrated from Cranston, R. I., to 




7^C">^V U 



Ky\i 






hj^ 



CIVIL LIST. 39 



LIST OF POSTMASTERS AT GLEN'S FALLS, (a) 

Briggs, Jabez, appointed 
BuELL, Horatio, " 

Emmons, Adonijah, " 

Ferriss, John A., " 



5th Marchi, 


1835. 


8tli October, 


1818. 


13th April, 


1816. 


1st January 


1808. 



Barnet, Vt., wliere the subject of this sketcli was born on tlie 28tli of September, 
1804. The family record bears the following names back to the original immi- 
grant, viz. : Job, the grandfather, who was the son of Pardon, the son of Nicholas, 
the son of John, the son of John, one of three brothers who came to this country 
from Warwickshire, England, in 1634, who settled in Pawtuxet, R. I., from whom 
the numerous descendants have diverged and settled in almost every state and 
territory in the union. 

While in early youth, Dr. Sheldon's father removed to Delhi, Delaware Co., 
N. Y. Here he received the advantages of a good common school education, and 
being baptized and confirmed in the Episcopal church, commenced studying for 
orders in that communion. We are not advised as to the causes which led to a 
change of pursuit in life, but shortly after we find him prosecuting the study of 
medicine with Dr. Lang in the city of New York, in one of whose colleges he 
graduated about the year 1831. After receiving his diploma, he was appointed 
ward physician in one of the worst and hardest districts of the city. During the 
cholera season of 1832 he saw and reported the first case of that terrible scourge 
in the city. His superiors scouted the idea. The next morning seven more were 
down with disease and three dead bodies in the building. A medical commission 
which had been dispatched to Canada to investigate the disease, on examination 
confirmed his diagnosis, and he was awarded the credit due to his discrimination 
and good judgment. At the end of the season he was presented with a massive 
silver pitcher, which remains as an heir-loom in the family, upon which is engraved 
the following inscription : 

" Presented by the Board of Health of the City of New York to N. Edson Shel- 
don, M. D., for professional services gratuitously rendered to the poor of the Second 
Ward during the prevalence of the cholera, A. D., 1832." 

The following year he removed to Glen's Falls and embarked in practice, and 
notwithstanding a sharp and sometimes acrimonious competition, he soon suc- 
ceeded in acquiring a fair proportion of the patronage ; the population of the vil- 
lage and town being less than one-fourth what it is to-day. For nearly twenty years, 
and until his voluntary retirement from professional cares, he held the position of 
a first class practitioner, and the reputation of more than ordinary success. Even 
later his professional brethren, in token of respect, elected him president of the 
County Medical Society. 

While pursuing his medical studies, a young English lady, named Elizabeth 
Goodwin Olive, stopped for a few days' visit at his preceptor's while on her way 
with an uncle, a clergyman of the church of England, to Canada. A romantic 
attachment sprang up between them, and in May, 1834, they were married. She 
died on the 30th of December, 1840. On the 3d of October, 1842, he was again 
married to Abigal T., daughter of the late John A. Ferriss, Esq. Soon after, he 
engaged in the drug and medicine trade, and by strict attention and assiduity he 
built up a large and remunerative business, and for years has been considered one 
of the leading and successful business men of the place. For a large proportion 



40 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

Ferriss, John A., appointed llth December, 1823. 

Freeman, Jonathan W., " 25th March, 1841. 

Harris, Hiram M., " 27th June, 1860. 

Kenworthy, John L., " 27th March, 1861. 

Morgan, Carlos, " 16th June, 1863. 

Since twice re-appointed, and 
the present incumbent. 

Paddock, Ira A., " 17th December, 1829. 

Palmeter, James, '* 9th May, 1845. 



of his life, Dr. Sheldon has been known as an active and influential politician. 
Originally a democrat, he with many others came out in 1838 in opposition to that 
party, and for many years his office was the rallying place and centre where poli- 
ticians arranged the local affairs of both the whig and republican parties. In the 
exciting and important campaign of 1860, whose events culminated in our late 
civil war, he was chosen one of the electors of the Empire State, and cast his vote 
for the first term of service of the martyred and lamented Lincoln. 

In 1866 he was appointed by the governor, one of the Board of Trustees of the 
New York State Institution for the Bhnd at Binghamton. In the exciting cam- 
paign of last fall, feeling that his name was a tower of strength to his party, he 
was nominated and elected county treasurer, a position which his failing health 
compelled him to resign early in the present year. 

Dr. Sheldon was public-spirited, and has always contributed to the development 
and advancement of the place. He has been from the first a stockholder and 
director in the Glen's Falls and Lake George Plank Road Company, and for many 
years its secretary. He was also for a long time one of the trustees of the Glen's 
Falls Academy. Conspicuous, however, above all other traits of character, was 
his sterling honor and integrity. In the language of one wlio knew him intimately 
and well, " he would not have done an unjust, dishonest or fraudulent act to save 
his life." He died suddenly at his residence in Glen's Falls, on the 3d of July, 1878. 

(o) It appears from the records of the post office department, that the first 
post office was established at Glen's Falls on the first of January, 1808. Previous 
to this date the nearest post office was at Sandy Hill, whither the inhabitants of 
this place were obliged to resort for postal privileges. 

The first Assistant Postmaster General, St. John B. L. Skinner, who kindly fur- 
nished the list, imparted the following information. " In examining the old 
books, some doubt has arisen whether " Glenville " was not the original name ; 
but, as no change of name is found, it is presumed that Glen's Falls was estab- 
lished, or commenced rendering 1st January, 1808. Unfortunately, the fire which 
destroyed the building in 1836, consumed three of the oldest books, which makes 
it difficult to trace the exact date of many of the old offices ; but this is believed 
to be correct." 

I may add that this statement is corroborated by the recollection of several per- 
sons, among whom may be mentioned the late Abraham Wing, and Judge Hay. 

The first post office was established in a wooden building erected and first 
occupied as a store by Judge Hay's father on the south-east corner of Warren and 
Glen streets. The site is now occupied as a clothing store by Messrs. Pearsall 
and Cooledge. In a communication from Judge Hay, it is stated that, "at the 
time of Emmons' appointment, James Henderson became postmaster at the 
Oneida, but whether he was the first postmaster appointed there I know not." I 
have not succeeded in obtaining the statistics of the Queensbury or French 
Mountain post offices. 



-J 



> 



i 





CIVIL LIST. 41 

Peck, Daniel, (a) appointed Tth July, 1856. 

Peck, William, " llth April, 1853. 

Peck, William, " 21st February,i 1856. 



(a) The subject of this sketch is a representative man, and descendant of one of 
the oldest lisunilies of the town. He is the son of Hermon, and Martha (Ken- 
worthy) Peck, and was born in the village of Glen's Falls on the 25th of February, 
1831. William Peck, the pioneer of the family in this country was born in Lon- 
don, Eng., in 1601. With his wife Elizabeth, and his then only son Jeremiah, he 
emigrated to this country in the ship Hector, arriving at Boston, 26th June, 
1837, in the company of Gov. Eaton, Rev. John Davenport and others, and waa 
one of the founders of the New Haven colony, in the spring of 1638. He was a 
merchant by occupation, a man of high standing in the colony, and a deacon of 
the church in New Haven from 1659 to 1694 when he died. His son, the Rev. 
Jeremiah Peck, was the first teacher of the Colony Collegiate School in New 
Haven, and afterwards settled minister at Saybrook, Conn., in the fall of 1661, in 
Elizabethtown, N. J., in 1670, in Greenwich, Conn., in 1674, and in Water- 
bury, Conn., in 1690, where he died in 1699 in his 77th year. His son 
Samuel settled in Greenwich, Conn., where all his children were born.* Hia 
grandson, Peter, the son of Peter, one of nine sons, was the pioneer of the family 
in Queensbury. He was the oldest of six children, and was born in Greenwich, 
Conn., in January, 1746. The father dying in 1759, his mother with her little 
family removed to New Milford, Conn., where on the 7th of December, 1768, Peter 
married Sarah, daughter of Paul Terrill. He with his family removed to Queens- 
bury in 1786,' settled on the Ridge road about a mile from " the corners," where 
he remained until his decease, June 17th, 1813. According to the family tradition, 
the family were two weeks on the route ; the boys trudging along afoot, driving 
two yokes of oxen attached to strong, rude wagons, loaded with household stuff, 
while the father rode on horseback. They brought along with them a large, 
powerful watch dog, which one night, soon after their arrival was destroyed and 
eaten by wolves, troops of which then found their covert in the big Cedar swamp. 
At that time there were only three dwellings at Glen's Falls, a foot path to the 
Ridge, and a rude wagon road up Bay street as far as the log Quaker church by 
the Half-way brook. Peter Peck had three sons all of whom were bom in New 
Milford, Conn., viz : Reuben, Daniel, and Edmund. Reuben, the eldest, was born 
8th February, 1772, and married 1st, Tryphena Bishop, and 2d, Jane Haight. 
Hermon, his eldest child, was born 19th of April, 1800, and married 1st, Nancy 
Quin in 1825 ; 2d, Martha Kenworthy in 1830. Seven children were the fruit 
of this. union of whom Daniel is the eldest. Hermon died at Glen's Falls, 
27th July, 1865. 

A few seasons at the district school, four terms at the Glen's Falls Academy, 
and at the early age of thirteen, we find the subject of this sketch, with true 
Yankee grit and perseverance, at work on a farm for small wages to be sure, in 
Sandgate Vt. At the age of sixteen he went to Union Village, where for six 
months he was employed in the manufacture of tin- ware. He returned home, and 
was sent by his father to run and manage a saw-mill of four gates on the Sacandaga 
river, at what is now known as Conklinville, Saratoga Co., N. Y. Here he re- 
mained for four years, during which time he had accumulated nearly a thousand 
dollars by overwork of the roughest kind. He then returned to the paternal roof. 



• At this date the oflBce became " Presidential," and the same incumbent wag re-appointed. 
2 From the Peck Genealogy by Ira B. Peck, Boston, 1868. 

8 Prom Darius Peck, Esq.. of Hudson, N. Y., who has compiled and nearly completed another 
Genealogical Record of the Peck family. 

6 



42 



HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 



Philo, Henry, 

Vaughn, Eleazer S., 
Williams, Stephen I., 



appointed 7th June, 1843. 

" 21st September, 1848. 
" 3d May, 1849. 



and for a year or more was employed as a clerk in his father's hardware store. 
At the end of that period, being little more than twenty-one years of age, he 
bought out his father's store, enlarged the business, importing a portion of his 
stock from England directly and with characteristic enterprise, built up a large and 
flourishing business. To this, as is seen above, was added the cares and responsi- 
bilities of a large post office in 1856, which continued for four years. In 1860, Mr. 
Peck disposed of his business to De Long & Son, and in the latter part of the 
same year, embarked with his cousin Charles Peck in a lumber, grain and feed 
trade for which a new store was erected by them. They were burnt out in the 
great conflagation of May, 1864, when Daniel alone suffered a loss of upwards of 
twenty thousand dollars. 

In less than a week, and while the charred ruins were yet smoking, he had bought 
out his partner, and established a street bazar for the sale of grain and lumber. 
During the season he rebuilt the store, and continued in the trade for a year, 
when he formed a co-partnership with Mr. Frank Byrne, to carry on the wholesale 
and jobbing grocery business on the north corner of Glen and Ridge streets. 




PiiCK & delong's store.' 



Bringing to this enterprise, the same tact, energy and judgment, which has 
characterized his efforts through life, the undertaking was attended with un- 
precedented success. A new store, one of the finest in the place, was erected and 
completed the following season. Here for eight years was conducted the largest 



> The building in the distAnce is the new engine house, erected in 1865. Here two of the hose 
companies of the corporation, liold their meetings, and keep their truclis and paraphernalia. For- 
mer^ the building was used by the Cataract, and Jerome Lapham fire companies. 




f^ 





CIVIL LIST. 43 



JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF 
NEW YORK. 

RosEKEANS, Enoch H., (a) 1855-71. Two terms. 



grocery establisliment north of the cities, the sales averaging for that time half 
a million of dollars annually. The establishment is now conducted by H. P. 
Peck (a brother of Daniel's) and C. J. De Long, and it continues to be the leading 
grocery concern of the place. 

For the last two years, Mr. Peck, in conjunction with his partners, Messrs. 
Byrne, Keenan and Wing, have been engaged in developing a large and pro- 
mising lime interest at Smith's basin, on the Northern canal. 

Tlie products of this manufacture for the current season 1873 have been up- 
wards of fifty thousand barrels. 

Mr. Peck has served a term as county treasurer ; has been several times elected 
treasurer of the corporation of Glen's Falls. He has also been chosen trustee of 
the village three or four times, and has served one year as president of the 
village. 

Mr. Peck is a gentleman of great public spirit, liberality and energy ; is yet in 
the prime and vigor of life, with a future full of promise, and pregnant with 
hopes yet to be realized. 

(«) Enoch Huntingdon Rosekrans is a descendant on the mother's side from 
the widely distinguished Huntingdon family of Connecticut, which has produced 
so many brilliant ornaments of the pulpit, the bar, and the army. The name was 
originally written Rosakrans, signifying a garland of roses. 

His grandfather, Benjamin Rosecrantz's name appears in the New York Civil 
List as a member of assembly from Saratoga county, in 1792. The family was of 
German or rather Dutch extraction, and originally settled in Dutchess county. 
E. H. Rosekrans was the son of Benjamin and Esther (Huntingdon) Rosekrans, 
and was born at Waterford, N. T., on the 16th of October, 1808. The father was 
a merchant of that place. The childhood and youth of the subject of this sketch 
were passed under the parental roof. When about six years old, he went to live 
with his maternal uncle, the late distinguished lawyer and advocate. Judge Samuel 
G. Huntingdon of Troy, N. Y. His preparatory education was acquired at the 
Lansingburgh Academy, then quite a noted seminary of learning. He entered 
Union College, junior class — graduated in July, 1836 with honors — studied law 
with his uncle, above named, with whom, after being admitted to the bar in October, 
1839, he remained in partnership a couple of years. Settled at Glen's Falls in 
1831, was married at Saratoga Springs on the 14th of June the following year to 
Caroline, daughter of Miles and Cynthia (Warren) Beach. Was admitted to the 
bar as counselor in 1833, and about the same time received the appointment of 
Supreme Court Commissioner, and Master in Chancery. The remainder of his 
ofiBcial services are of record in the Civil List. In 1867 the degree of LL.D. was 
conferred upon him by his Alma Mater. Possessed of rare intellectual gifts, great 
personal magnetism, keen discrimination and incisive argumentative abilities, he 
has always held a front rank at the bar, and on the bench has invariably com- 
manded the respect of friend and foe. 

His opinion in the Great Erie Railway case was one of the first heavy blows 
administered to that powerful corporation. 



44 



HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 



COUNTY JUDGES. 

Baldwin, Seth C, — , 1832- 7. Ferriss, Orange, — , 1851-63. 

Barber, Hiram, — , 1837-45. Robards, William, — , 1813-20. 

Brown, Stephen, — , 1863-71. Rosekrans,EnochH., 

BuELL, Horatio, (a) — , 1829-32. — , 1847-51. 

Davis, Isaac J., — , 1871. Wing, Halsey R., — , 1845- 7. 

The present incombent. 



Baldwin, Seth C, 
Ferriss, Orange, 
Geay, Thomas S., 



SURROGATES.! 

— , 1835-40. Wilkinson, Robert,' 
— , 1840- 5. Wing, Abraham, 
— , 1845- 7. 



-, 1813-15. 

-, 1827-35. 



COUNTY TREASURERS. 

Farlin, Frederic A., — , 1845-52, Roberts, Charles, 
Hicks, Westel W., — , 1852- 8. Sheldon, N. Edson, 
Peck, Daniel, — , 1870- 3. (Resigned). 



1832-45. 

1873. 



COUNTY CLERKS. 
Baldwin, Seth C, — , 1820- 1. Ransom, Albert F. 

The present incumbent. 

Hicks, Westel W., — , 1861- 4. Wait, George P., 



— , 1874. 
1864-73. 



(a) "Horatio Buell, (cliristened Horatio Gates, but the middle letter was 
TiBually dropped in his signatures), was second son and child of Gordon and 
Martha (Whittlesey) Buell of Newport, N. H. He was born 13th January, 1791." * 
(From Genealogy of Buell Family, by J. S. Buell, Esq., of Buffalo, N. Y.). He 
graduated with honors at Dartmouth College, in 1809, studied law, was admitted 
to the bar, and soon after removed to Glen's Falls, where his commanding talents, 
and rare acquirements, soon placed him in the front rank of his profession the 
bar of which was already graced by the names of such distinguished advocates 
as Roger Skinner, Abraham L. Vandenburgh, Henry C. Martiudale, Benjamin F. 
Butler, Robert Wilkinson, Lawrence I. Van Kleek, and Asahel Clark. He was 
married to Elizabeth daughter of the late James and Elizabeth (Cameron) 
McGregor, of Wilton, Saratoga Co., N. Y., on the 4th of July, 1819. Mr. Buell 
was a man of mark and influence in his day ; held in deservedly high considera- 
tion among those who knew him best ; an active politician, possessing the rare 
gift of moulding and moving men to his wishes, and having withal a high sense 
of honor and justice to guide and control his mental forces. He died at Ballston, 
Saratoga Co., N. Y., on the 27th of February, 1833. 



> Since the year 1847, the office of surrogate has been associated in this county with that of first 
judge. 

" A brief biographical notice of Horatio Bttbll in Ckapmari's Sketches of the Alumni of Dart- 
mouth College^ states that he was the son of Gordon and Hannah (Whittlesey) Buell, and that he 
was bom at Newport, January 13th, 1787. The statement above is believed to be correct. 



CIVIL LIST. 



45 



SHERIFFS. 



Allen, King, — , 1852- 5. 

BROWN,DAj^iELV.,(a)— , 1861- 4. 
Ferguson, Daniel, — , 1855- 8. 
Hicks, Westel W., — , 1867-70. 
Person, Lewis, — , 1855. 

To fill vacancy. 



— 1864- 7. 

— , 1834- 7. 

— , 1813-15. 

— , 1825- 8. 
Starbuck, Stephen, — , 1858-61. 
Tearse, Peter B., — , 1789-93. 



Person, Lewis, 
Russell, Joseph, 
Spencer, Henry, 



Baldwin, Levi H., 
Baldwin, Seth C, 



DISTRICT ATTORNEYS. 

— , 1850- 3. Farlin, Alfred C, — , 1845- 7. 
— , 1823- 5. Hat,WilliamJr.,(6)— , 1825- 7. 
— , 1827-35. Mott, Isaac, — , 1856-65. 



Brown, Stephen, — , 1853- 6. 
Buell, Horatio, — , 1821- 3. 
Cheritree, Andrew 

J., (Resigned). —,1871- 2. 
Clark, Asahel, — , 1818-21. 



— , 1872- 3. 
RosEKRANs, Enoch H., 

— , 1835-45 
Sheldon, Melville 

A., — , 1874. 

Present incnmbent. 



(a) Son of Kichard, and Sally (Vaughn) Brown, was born 29th of May, 1821, in 
this town, and was a direct descendant in the fourth generation, from Benedick, 
the original settler, who immigrated to this town as early as the year 1772, his 
name appearing on the town records for 1773 as overseer of the poor. 

The following is a fac-simile of his signature. 

Daniel V. Brown was, for a number of years, a prominent business man, and 
active politician of the democratic party at Glen's Falls. He was elected to the 
position of supervisor against overwhelming odds in 1859. He has also held, as 
will be seen by the record, various other positions of honor and trust. 

He was drowned on the ill fated steamer Melville, which was wrecked and sunk 
at sea, on the 8th of January, 1865. He was at that time on his way to South 
Carolina, to procure volunteers or substitutes, to supply the quota of Queensbury 
in the anticipated draft for levies in the war of the rebellion. He was accompanied 
on this mission by Edward Riggs, a lawyer of fine attainments, and brilliant pro- 
mise, who met with the same terrible fate. A large sum of money belonging to 
the town of Queensbury, taken out by these agents for the purpose of paying sol- 
diers' bounties, was lost in the same disaster. 

(6) William Hay was of Scotch extraction, his ancestors having been among 
the earliest of that hardy band of Scotch adventurers, who hewed them out a 
home in the wilderness, on the eastern confines of Charlotte county about a 
century ago. He was a blood relative of the late Henry Hay, Esq., of Ticon- 
deroga, and of Col. Udney Hay, who held important relations to the American 
army of the Revolution. He was born in the year 1790, in Cambridge, Wash- 



46 HISTORY OP TBGE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 



COUNTY SUPERINTENDENTS OF COMMON SCHOOLS. 

Baldwin, Seth C, Thompson, Lemon, — , 1844-5. 

vice Wing resigned. — , 1843-4. Wing, Halsey R., — , 1843. 
HoLDEN, Austin W., — , 1846-7. (Resigned). 



ington Co., N. T., and his early training was in the straight and narrow ways of 
Scotch Presbyterianisni. About the beginning of the present century, his father, 
William Hay, came to Glen's Falls, embarked in the lumber business, and erected 
a store, the first building put up on the site now occupied by Pearsall and Cool- 
edge as a clothing store. 

For a season he carried on an extensive business ; but was ultimately unsuc- 
cessful and the property passed into the hands of John A. Ferriss and others. Amid 
these reverses, the son struggled on unaided in the acquirement of his education, 
the advantages being of the scantiest as to quality and opportunity. In 1808, he 
was pursuing the study of law in the office of Henry C. Martindale near the site 
of Vermillia's block. In 1812-13, he opened an office for the practice of law at 
the head of Lake George. , 

In 1814, he (being lieutenant commanding) proceeded with a rifle company, 
raised in great measure through his endeavors, to Plattsburgh, but did not reach 
the place in time to participate in that celebrated action, which contributed as 
largely as any one event to the final success of the American arms, in the second 
great struggle with England. 

He was also one of the volunteers in that ill starred expedition to Carthagena, 
pending which, he spent a winter in Philadelphia, where he became practically 
familiar with, and an adept in the printers' art. 

Early in the winter of 1816-17, and while in practice at Caldwell, he was 
married to a daughter of Stephen Paine, Esq., of Northumberland, Saratoga 
county, N. Y., by whom he had eight children. 

In 1819, he became the proprietor and publisher of the Warren Patriot, the 
first and only newspaper ever published at Lake George. About the same time, 
he delivered a poem at a fourth of July celebration at Caldwell, which was pub- 
lished, and was remarkable for its enunciation of those broad principles of human 
rights and liberties, which forty years later became the corner stone of the repub- 
lican party. 

In 1822 he removed to Glen's Falls, and resumed the practice of law. In 1827, 
he was elected to the assembly from Warren county. A doggerel verse which 
commemorates the spirit of that campaign, runs as follows : 

"In Warren County lived a Fox,' The Quaker men were marshalled out, 

And he was wondrous wise, All headed by JohnA.,* 

He ran against a load of Hay, With long tailed coats and broad brimmed hats, 

And scratched out both his eyes. A fighting Billy Hay. 

Soon after his return from the legislature, he issued a thin duodecimo volume 
of poetry entitled Isabel Davalos, the Maid of SeviUe. In the spring of 1837, he 
removed to Ballston at the same time retaining a branch office in this village. In 
1840 he transferred his residence to Saratoga Springs, where he remained up to 
the time of his decease. Of several published works of his, the one which has 
attained the widest circulation is " A History of Temperajice in Saratoga County." 

' Norman Fox, his opponent, who was thrice elected to the Assembly, viz : 1819-20-30. 
" John A. Ferriss, fether of Hon. O. Ferriss, and then postmaster of the village. 



CIVIL LIST. 47 



SCHOOL COMMISSIONERS. 

Armstrong, Adam, — , 1870-2. Cheritree, Andrew 
Arnold, Luther A., — , 1860-6. J., — , 1856-7. 

(Two terms). Ketchum, Daniel B., — , 1873-4. 

The present incumbent. 

Welch, Theodore, — , 1867-9. 

DELEGATES TO STATE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTIONAL. 

Cheritree, Andrew Hotchkiss, William, — , 1846. 

J., — , 1867-8. Vernor, John, (a) — , 1801. 



He died suddenly while attending service at the Baptist church in Saratoga 
Springs, on the evening of Sunday, the 12th of February, 1790. 

He was a man of extensive reading and vast erudition ; not a little tenacious 
of his opinions and views, some of which bordered upon eccentricity. But few 
of the sterner sex ever possessed more delicate sensibilities, keener perceptions, 
or more rapid intuitions. 

In the later decades of his life he became a bold and fearless advocate of tem- 
perance. His delight and recreation, however, were drawn through the flowery, 
though not thornless paths of poetry and romance. His memory was something 
extraordinary, his industry in research indefatigable, and his mind was stored 
with the choicest cullings from the wide fields of literature and bellfes-lettres. In 
American history he was standard authority, to whom it was safe to refer at a 
moments warning, and in the matter of local history his mind was an exhaustless 
treasury. 

(a) Born 18th August, 1746, died Ist December, 1825, at Albany, N. T. His re- 
mains repose in the old burial ground of the Protestant Episcopal church at 
Albany, where also may be found the following inscriptions to the memory of his 
wife and son. " Prudence, wife of John Vernor, died 20th June, 1846, in the 77th 
year of her age." " John Vernor, Jr., died 4th March, 1822, aet. 51." The name 
of the latter appears in the Wing manuscripts for the year 1795. By the roster it 
appears that he was commissioned cornet on the 23d March, 1797, in the regiment 

commanded by Thurman of this regimental District. From some slight 

memoranda received from his son I learn that he was a magistrate for several 
years, and that he served with credit in the war of 1812-15. 

Was a merchant and tavern keeper at the head of Lake George in those early 
days when the two pursuits were often combined. The town limits of Queens- 
bury, then extended half way to the county line. He was one of the earliest com- 
missioned magistrates in the county, having received his appointment 24th 
February, 1791. His name appears frequently in the town records from 1795 
to 1802. He was chairman of a public meeting of the citizens from vari- 
ous towns of Washington county, held at the house of Col. Joseph Caldwell of 
Kingsbury, on the 25th of February, 1793, with Micajah Pettit as secretary, at 



48 



HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURT. 



STATE SENATORS. 

Clark, OrvilIe,i — , 1844-5-6-7. Little, Russell M., — , 1862-3. 
HoTCHKiss, William, — , 1856-7. Peck, Bethuel, — , 1839-40-1-2. 



which Dr. Zina Hitchcock was nominated as the federal candidate for the Senate. In 
the Calendar of Neio York Historical Mamiseripts, Revolutionary Papers, his name 
appears as quartermaster in the 13th New York regiment from the Saratoga District, 
of which John McCrea was colonel, all of whose officers were commissioned on the 
20th of October, 1775. In a conversation with the compiler held on the 13th Sep- 
tember, 1850, the late Peletiah Richards, Esq., in relating reminiscences of his first 
visit to Warrensburgh in May, 1800, stated that the first building north of Bloody 
pond at that time, was " the long-house," at the head of the lake, north-east of the 




ttfaVklEOf4JLBAfl'i, 



View of Lake George in 1791. 

This cut was copied from a manuscript map among the Wing papers entitled "A Map of Land 
adjoining tlie west side of Lulie George belonging to James Caldwell, containing 2,232 acres. 
And also another ailioining containing 110 acres. Protracted by a scale of 15 chains to an inch. 
May, 1791. Pr. Archibald Campbell.'" 



turn in the old road, near the barracks of old Fort George at the foot of the hill 
and near the shore of the lake. This was the old hospital of the Revolutionary 
war ; a framed building, and was kept as a hotel by John Vernor. 

From the scanty memorials remaining of him, he appears to have been a man 
of means, culture, and refinement, having considerable influence, and mingling 
largely in public affairs. The following, among " notes from newspapers," appears 
in the Vlllth Vol. of Munsell's Annals of Albany. 

1825, Dec. 1. " John Vernor died aged 80. He was a zealous partizan in the war 
of the Revolution, and for a time was deputy commissary of military stores, in which 
station, as well as in all others that he occupied, he showed himself competent 
and faithful. He was buried with masonic honors from his residence in North 



» Gen. Orville Clark, was, at the time of his election to the Senate, a resident of Sandy Hill, 
and in the full meridian of his splendid powers. 



CIVIL LIST. 49 

Sanpord, (a) George Sickles, Daniel E., — , 1856-7 

H. — ,1870-1. From the 3d (New York city) District. 

From the xixth (Oneida) District. 

SERGEANT AT ARMS OF THE STATE SENATE. 
Clark, James C, — , 1860-1. 



Market street, opposite the arsenal." The drawing was a pen and ink sketch. 
The road, represented by dotted lines, winds down by old Fort George, passing the 
settlement represented by the engraving, and one solitary house on the beach to 
the west of the settlement, then following the margin of the lake around to the 
west side, strikes off from the lake in a northerly by west course just north of the 
big brook by Crandell's, and keeps on across the entire map. It is designated as 
John Thurman's road. Buildings are represented as standing as follows : A 
saw-mill on the brook just above the road crossing, just noted, a dwelling a little 
to the east of the mill between the brook and roads, and another dwelling near 
Mr. Hayden's residence. These are ail the buildings indicated, except those re- 
presented in the picture. The picture is lettered " Fort George." This occupies 
the centre of a circle which extends several rods down the lake and whose dia- 
meter represents about 120 chains, embracing the entire south end of the lake and 
its adjacent territory on both sides. This is marked " Lands reserved for the use 
of the garrison." For some of the information herein contained, I am indebted 
to the Hon. James Gibson of Salem, N. Y. 

(a) George H. Sanford, son of George and Louisa (Gibbs)Sanford, was born at 
Sanford's ridge, in the town of Queensbury, N. Y., in the year 1836. A year later, his 
parents removed to Glen's Falls, where he lived till 13 years of age, enjoying such 
educational advantages as the place then afforded. At the age of thirteen, when 
most boys are helpless dependants upon their parents, he resolved to earn his own 
means of support, and work out his own career. Accordingly, with his parents' 
consent, he repaired to Albany, where he found employment as receiving and 
shipping clerk with Mead, Burnham & Co., wholesale lumber dealers. With the 
exception of one year spent at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at Troy, he 
passed the active business portion of the next seven years in the employment of 
this firm. During three winters of this time, he was employed in lumbering on his 
own account in Greene Co., N. Y., and Potter Co., Pa. When but twenty years 
of age, he made Syracuse his residence, and there entered into the lumber and 
salt trade, combining with it the manufacture of lumber at Saginaw, Michigan, 
and locating pine lands, in the productive pineries of that state. He was one of 
the pioneer company organized in 1858, to bore for salt water in the Saginaw 
valley. In 1861, he was married to Helen B. Stevens, a grand-daughter of the 
late Hon S. Sidney Breese, of Oneida county. 

In 1862, having acquired something of a competence, he removed to Oneida, 
N. Y., where he continued to reside until the time of his death. Here he was 
appointed president of the Oneida Savings Bank, a director in the Oneida Valley 
National Bank and in the Rome and Clinton Rail Road. He also, about this time, 
re-embarked with his younger brother, David, in the lumber business at Rome, 
N. Y. In 1864, and again in 1868 he was a delegate to the National Democratic 
Convention. In 1865 and '66, he was ele'cted supervisor of his town by flattering 
majorities. In 1867 was nominated for senator and ran largely ahead of his 
ticket. Was elected to the assembly in 1866, and to the senate of '70-'71, in both 
of which positions he very ably represented his constituents, and was always 
found high minded, courteous, industrious and true to the best interests of the 

7 



50 HISTORY OP THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 



MEMBERS OF ASSEMBLY.i 

Alden, Seth, (a) — , 1800- 1. Cheney, Albert 

BuRNHAM, Cyrus, — , 1850. N., (6) — 1848. 

Butler,BenjaminC.,— , 1860. Clark, Billy J., — , 1820. 

Elected from Saratoga connty. 

people. While liis honors were clustering thickly around him, he was stricken 
down suddenly with an insidious disease, and died at his residence, on the 29th 
of November, 1871, being the third member of the senate of 1870-1, smitten 
down by the hand of death during their term of service. 

(a) " Dr. Seth Alden, son of Seth, was born probably at Shaftsbury, Vt., in 1749, 
died at Caldwell (head of Lake George) 30th July, 1809. We have no account of 
his early life, but that he was a man of some note in his profession, is evident from 
the fact, that in 1783 he was requested by Col. Ethan Allen to visit his daughter 
in consultation with Dr. Hutton, his family physician, at the distance of some forty 
miles. From Shaftsbury he removed to Caldwell, N. Y., where he continued to 
reside until the time of his death." In a letter from Judge Hay, I find the follow- 
ing : " I have heard old James Caldwell speak of clearing and laying out the site 
for Lake House Caldwell ; the first occupant I knew was Dr. Alden. Before the 
Lake House was erected, the old hospital, or long house, had been used for a 
tavern." See Sketch of John Vernor. 

He married Ist, Priscilla Cole, who died 20th November, 1798, and 2d, Keziah 
Beach on the 1st March, 1800, who died 10th October, 1810, set 51. His two eldest 
daughters were married successively to John A. Ferriss, a prominent merchant and 
business man of this place. Dr. Alden was of the fifth generation in direct descent 
from John Alden of May Flower memory, and was the grandfather of Hon. O. 
Ferriss, our late representative in congress, a sketch of whom appears in this 
work. The late Mr. Ralph Stebbins, of Caldwell, informed me that Dr. Alden 
removed from Lake George to Fort Edward in 1809, and died the same year or the 
year following. Caldwell was not erected as a township until 1810. In the old 
parchment bound Records of Queeiisbiiry will be found the following entry : At a 
town meeting held in Queensbury, 26th day of January, 1784, it was " voted that 
the inhabitants of Fort George be annexed to the district of Queensbury." Also 
in 1806, — " By order of Henry Spencer and Moses Harris jr., commissioners, etc., 
District No. 4 is to extend as far north as the south line of Bolton." — Vide Alden 
Memorial, p. 144. 

(6) Albert Nelson Cheney, son of Hiram and Joanna (Hawkins) Cheney, was 
born at Rutland, Vt., on the 17th of November, 1813. In the early records, the 
name is found variously recorded, Cheeney, Cheny, and Cheiney. The family 
were of English origin, and among the earliest immigrants to this country. 

The ancestor of the family is understood to have settled in the town of Concord, 
Mass., from whence the descendants migrated westwardly, with the drift of 
colonization. The name occurs in the history of Watertown, Mass., as early as 
1650. The grand-father of Albert N. Cheney was one of the earliest pioneers 
to the town of Rutland, which, according to Tliompson's Oazetteer of Vermont, 



1 Prior to the erection of Wan-en county in 1813, and indeed, as lato as 1822, the assembly district 
which embraced Warren and Wasliingltjn counties, was represented by lro;n three to six mum- 
bnrs, according to the ratio of roprcsc'utation. " * 

It will be seen by the list that this portion of the district always had its full proportion of 
members. 



50 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 



MEMBERS OF ASSEMBLY.i 

.M.ijt > orali, ((() — , 1800- 1. ChKNBY, ALBERT 

Bdunram, Cyrus, — , 1850. N. Ih\ — , 1848. 

Butler.BenjaminC. ,— , 1860. Cla: v J., —,1820. 

Saratviga county. 



pw>j»1p W)nl« liiB honors were clustering thjckJy ^lu, he was stricken 

■. an insidious disease, and di» (i '^e, on the 29th 

, , being the third member of i: ~n-1, smitten 

luu of death duriiig their term of servicw. 

' ! Alden, son of Seth, was born prolmbly at Shaii^tn! . ~49, 

i! (head of Lake George) 30th July, 1809. We have uc> accouu; <if 

it that he was a man of some note in his profession, is evident Irom 

1783 he was re<] nested by Col. Ethan Allen to visit his daughter 

with Dr. Hutton, his family i li vHioian, at the distance of some forty 

"^haftsbury he removed r N. Y., where he continued to 

• time of his dcfttli," Tn. ;, t,,,];,,^, Hay, I find the foUow- 

heard old 1 laying out the site 

.'.i'Uv..i '.,)..„ Before the 

^4!d Un a 



: aent merchant and 

N oi I II'- niiii gL-iu ration in direct descent 

■ y, and was the grandfather of Hon. 0. 

'>ms, a sketch of whom appears in tliis 

Caldwell, informed me that Dr. Alden 

l'\in Edward in ISOU, ami 'Jie<l the same year or the 

n<>( PTeoted as a townshij" until 1810. In the old 

lowing entry: At a 

'♦ H.TH •• VDtH tluit 

lh< 

in i 

Dj»^; : .'/.« Alden 

Men,.., 

(6) ALBiiK; wkuiH) Cheney, was 

V.orn ftt Rutlii! carlv rccMi-fls, the 

found variously rec' uily 

i iiirl l"1i (iri •'{■<: ;i ml 

' ( (lucord, 

.i.,« drift of 

HB., as early as 

■'■ . ■■ tliest pioneers 

' ' r of Vermont, 

■t%, the assembly district 
lro;n three to six mcm- 

.a<l itti fiill proportion of 




ESTKh BANK NOTE %■ Ef*^ 




^y^^ O^^ 




CIVIL LIST. 51 

Faxon, Walter A., — , 1861. Geer,Walter jR.,(a)— , 1837. 
Fox, Norman, — , 1819-20-6-30. Gray, Thomas S., — , 1856-62. 

was first settled in 1770, and family tradition states that he erected the first brick 
house in the town. 

His son Hiram was born in Rutland, where he married Lucy Barney, daughter 
of Capt. Barney of that place, by whom he had one son. After her death, he re- 
moved to Castleton, Vt., where he married Joanna Hawkins, who had four 
children, all of whom, excepting the subject of this sketch, still survive ; the 
mother, at the advanced age of 82, living with one of her children at Homer in 
the state of Michigan. Hiram was a cabinet maker by trade, and carried on that 
business in Castleton, where he was accidentally killed by the discharge of a 
gun on the 23d of January, 1819. 

Soon after this event, Albert was bound out, to one Deacon Harlow of 
Castleton, with whom he remained until he was fourteen years of age, when he 
broke his bonds, hard work, and harder fare becoming too intolerable for longer 
endurance. He next went to live with the eminent medical practitioner, after- 
wards president of the Vermont Medical College, where he met \^^ith the greatest 
kindness and consideration, and where he remained about two years. He next 
came to Sandy Hill, N. Y., where he remained a few months, and then removed 
to Glen's Falls. This was about the year 1830, while the enlargement of the 
Glen's Falls' Feeder was in progress, and business of every kind was receiving a 
fresh impetus, with the opening up of a channel of transit to tide- water. He at 
first found employment with David Johnson, a forwarder and merchant. The 
following year he commenced business on his own account by opening a grocery 
under the hill, which in two or three years was removed to the old Tontine block . 
His interest in this concern was shortly afterward disposed of to the late James 
Morgan, Esq. 

A short time after this event he was united in marriage to Miss Annah H., 
daughter of the late Josiah L. Arms. Establishing a partnership with his brother- 
in-law, Mr. Lewis L. Arms, he embarked in the lumbering business, to which was 
added soon after a large mercantile establishment, and later on, a grist-mill. 

For these varied pursuits Mr. Cheney exhibited a remarkable aptitude and 
forecast. The grasp of his comprehensive mind deduced possible fortunes in a 
range of business, hitherto chaotic, and whose details needed his executive ability 
to perfect. 

Year by year the extent of the manufacture increased, new timber lands were 
bought, new mills erected, new facilities added, larger results produced, until 
the Cheney Mills became the most important industrial interest here. He 
was also largely concerned in the purchase of lands, in the Adirondack ^vilder- 
ness, which were afterwards advantageously disposed of to the Adirondack Rail- 
way Company. He continued the lumber manufacturing business here until 
within a short time of his death, when it was disposed of to Morgan, Adsit & Co. 

He died on the first of October, 1866, prematurely, no doubt, through care and 
anxiety resulting from his many responsibilities. 

Mr. Cheney was a man of great public spirit and energy, a leading man in the 
affairs of the place, affable, courteous and courtly in his demeanor, he always 
commanded troops of friends in every station of life. He represented Warren 
county in the legislature of 1848, and no doubt might have held other official 
positions, had he not rather shunned than courted political preferment. 

As a kind friend to the poor, his name will be long held in grateful regard, 
and as a public benefactor his hand was free, his purse was ever open. 

(a) Walter Geer, Jr., son of Walter and Lucy (Wilson) Geer, was born in 



52 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

Hay, William Jr., — , 1827. Robards, William, — , 1807. 

HoLDEN, Austin W., — , 1874. Rockwell, William 

Lapham, Jerome, — , 1865.; W., — , 1849. 

Elected from Saratoga county. 

McDonald, William, — , 1822. Russell, Joseph, — , 1840. 

3-9. Sanpord, George, (a) — , 1841. 

Pettit, Micajah, — , 1800- 2. Sanpord, George H., ^, 1867. 

Elected from 3d District, Oneida county. 

Cliarlestown, N. H., 9tli January, 1792. His boyhood and early youth were passed 
with his parents in Salem, Washington county, N. Y. About the time he reached 
his majority, he removed to Union Village, where he was drafted, and went with the 
militia of our eastern border, to repel the British advance at Plattsburgh, during 
the last war. Married in Northumberland, on the 2d of November, 1815, to Hen- 
rietta Van Buren, of Easton, N. Y., a near relative of the late president of that name. 
He removed in February, 1816, to Schaghticoke, where he commenced business as 
a tanner and currier. At this time he appears to have been the associate and 
peer of such men as William L. Marcy, Jonas C. Heartt, Job Pierson, Moses 
Warren, James Livingston and B. P. Staats ; men that for a generation exercised 
a controlling influence over the politics of eastern New York, and all of whom left 
their mark upon the dial plate of the world's progress. In March, 1820, he came 
to Glen's Falls, and resumed the business pursued at Schaghticoke. He soon 
afterward embarked in trade with Abraham Wing, and L. L. Pixley. Was after- 
ward a partner with George Sanford in the mercantile business. At the time of 
the enlargement of the Glen's Falls feeder, of which he was an active promoter, 
he had a contract with the state for some portion of the excavation,. and also built 
the locks at Fort Edward. Not far from this time he went into the lumbering 
business with the late James D. Weston and John J. Harris. Their investments 
and ventures were so j udiciously made, and the business so ably looked after, and 
managed, that all these acquired a handsome competency. He was a magistrate 
in this town from 1821 to 1826, and member of assembly in 1837, a year memora- 
ble in politics for its financial crisis, and the secession of the conservatives from 
the dominant party. He was one of the principal originators and founders of the 
Glen's Falls Academy ; and was instrumental in forwarding the erection of the 
Second Presbyterian church building, which was destroyed in the great fire of 
1864. He was a promoter of educational and religious enterprises, an active and 
influential politician, a man of indomitable will, and inflexible purpose. He died 
on the I6th of July, 1855, and was among the flrst whose remains were deposited 
in the new cemetery, where a handsome and conspicuous monument has since 
been erected to his memory. 

{a) David Sanford, son of Zachariah and Rachel Sanford, was born on the 
14tli of November, 1769, at New Milford, Conn. He married Amy Hartwell, and 
removed to Sanford's ridge in the town of Queensbury, in 1795.' His sister Mary 
was the mother of the late Hon. William McDonald of Glen's Falls, a sketch of 
whom appears in this volume. 

Georoe Sanpord, son of David and Amy Sanford, was born at Sanford's ridge in 
1805. His father died when George was but seven years old. With a widowed 
mother, and alarge family of sisters, at an early age he assumed the entire man- 
agement of the paternal farm, and maintained the charge of the same, and the 
care of the family until he became of age. He soon after entered into a copartner- 



1 Lot No. 12 of the original survey was deeded to David Sanford by George Southwick and 
Justus Brown. 



CIVIL LIST. 53 

Sherwood, WiNFiELD Tearse, Peter B.,(a) — , 1786-7- 

ScoTT, — , 1846. 8-9. 

Sickles, Daniel E., —, 1847. Then a resident of Fort Edward. 

Elected from New York city. 



ship with his brother-in-law, Orlin Mead, Esq., in the lumber business, which at 
that time in northern New York was still in its infancy. In connection with this 
interest, the firm carried on for a number of years a flourishing mercantile busi- 
ness, on the site afterwards occupied by the late Noble Peck. The lumber trade 
in its various branches absorbed the greater portion of the active business life of 
Mr. Sanford in the unsettled parts of New York and Pennsylvania ; and later as 
a wholesale lumber dealer in Albany. 

In 1834, he was married to Louisa, daughter of Dr. Leonard Gibbs of Granville, 
Washington county, N. Y. She died in 1856. For a brief period, about the year 
1836, he moved back to the home farm, otherwise known as the Folger place, but 
was at the same time heavily engaged in extensive lumber operations, with the 
late Hon. Walter Qeer jr., with whom he was for some time associated in business. 

In 1887, he formed a copartnership to carry on the mercantile business with 
Orlin Mead, Esq., which was conducted on the site now occupied by J. L. Ken- 
worthy as a hardware and variety store. 

During the notable financial crisis of that year, when so many banks suspended, 
and specie suddenly disappeared from circulation, this firm issued a form of paper 
currency, upon which the name of shinplaster, it is believed, was then first 
conferred. 

This currency was of the denomination of twenty -five cents, redeemable in 
amounts of five dollars in " current bank bills, or in goods at our store." 

These obtained a wide circulation, and for considerable amounts, but were all 
subsequently redeemed. Gradually retiring from business, Mr. Sanford removed 
in 1850 to Ballston Spa, and a few years later to Syracuse, where, for several 
years, he had investments in the manufacture of salt. Here he died in 1862, leavin »• 
seven children still surviving. He was twice elected supervisor of his native town, 
and represented Warren county, as may be seen by the above list, in the leo-isla- 
ture of 1841. 

He was an active partisan in political life, taking a strong interest in the stirrino- 
topics of the time — a man of the people, the soul of honor, and irreproachable in 
his social relations. He possessed more than an ordinary degree of public spirit, 
having, principally of his own means, founded and built a private select school 
house for the education of children. He was one of the founders and earliest 
trustees of the Glen's Falls Academy, and one of the first corporators and vestrymen 
of the Protestant Episcopal church in this village in 1840. By an odd coincidence 
his name appears in the following year as one of the trustees of the Presbyterian 
church. In the changing population of a large and flourishing village, few have 
done more towards leaving the impress of their energies upon its institutions, or 
in giving an impetus to its progress than the late George Sanford. 




(a) The name is variously written Tearce, Tears, Tearse, Tierce and Turse. The 
New York branch of the family, following the French orthography, have dropped 
the two terminal letters, and write the name Tear. 



54 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

LIST OF TOWK OFFICERS/ 
M0DERAT0RS.2 

Ferriss, Warren, 1793,7, 8, 1803, Odell, Augustine, 1789. 

4. RoBARDs, William, 1796, 9, 1800. 

The ancestor of this family, was one of the few Huguenots, who escaped the 
terrible massacre of St. Bartholomew's day at Paris, 26th August, 1572. 

At the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, large numbers of these fugi- 
tives from religious persecution, fled to England and the English colonies. 

Many of them made their way to New York, and from thence to Westchester 
and adjacent counties, and planted settlements of French Protestants, among 
whose descendants may be included some of the most illustrious and influential 
names of our country. 

Peter Bailey Tearse, is believed to have been born in New York city, or vicinity, 
about the year 1753. In the Calendar of New Tork Land Papers, mention is 
made of the " petition of Peter B. Tearce, for a grant of 1,500 acres of bounty lands 
in lieu of his services as captain in Col. Willet's regiment." 

He is recorded in the State Revolutionary Papers, as adjutant in Col. Goose Van 
Schaick's (Albany) regiment, with Ist lieutenant's commission dating from March 
1st, 1776. He is endorsed in a report in the same volume, as a " good adjutant." 
The family tradition remembers him as Adjutant Tearse, while stationed at Fort 
Edward during Burgoyne's advance, and as Major Tearse, at Fort Stanwix, where, 
it is a matter of history, that Col. Marinus Willet was ordered with his regiment 
in July, 1777, and by his gallant conduct, seconded by the unflinching bravery of 
his command in that noted action, retrieved the fortunes of one of the fiercest and 
most momentous conflicts of the Revolution. 

In Wilson's Life of Jane McCrea, he says, " Miss Hunter was the grand-daughter 
of Mrs. McNiel, a cousin of Jenny, and at this time (i. e. 1777) resided with the 
former. Miss Hunter afterwards married a Mr. Tierce," the subject of this sketch. 

Soon after the war of the Revolution,' Major Tearse settled at Fort Edward, in 
which vicinity, and extending as far north as Lake George, Mrs. McNiel possessed 
an immense landed property valued even in those days, at upwards of eighty 
thousand dollars. 

He subsequently removed to Queensbury, where he erected an addition to a 
dwelling on the site of the old Mallory place, near the toll gate, and here for 
a few years kept a small wayside inn. From the town records, it appears that 
in 1795, he was chosen town moderator, an officer whose duty it was to pre- 
side at town meetings. In 1798 he was elected one of the assessors of the town, 
and overseer of the highways on several occasions. He was for a number of 
years one of the assistant justices of the general sessions of Washington county, 

' The compiler of these lists has encountered incredible difficulties in rendering them com- 

glete, from the fact that a {jreat portion of the town records from the year 180(1 to 1.S32 is missing 
avin^ been cut out of the record book by some evil disposed person probably for some sclttsB 
or sinister purpose. The register has been completed only through great trouble and care in 
consulting other books and papers, both in the town and county clerk's offices. It is believed to 
be as full and accurate as it can be made with existing data. 

^The duty of the moderator appears to have been, to preside at town meetings, preserve order, 
submit questions and motions, and decide doubtful votes. 

•' Peter 15. Tearse, after his marriage with Polly Hunter, buildedand occupied the Walter Rod- 
gers house (nearly opposite the Episcopal church) at Fort Edward. He was once sheritfof Wash- 
ington county. He failed in mercantile business, aUd removed to the Mallory \)\i\cii.— Extract 
of letter from Jxulge Uay, February dth, 1869. 



CIVIL LIST. 55 

Tearse, Peter B., 1795. Wing, Abraham, (a) 1766, 7, 8, 9, 

Vernor, John, 1801, 2. 72, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 80, 3, 4, 5, 

Wright, Job, 1770, 1. 6, 7, 8, 1790, 1, 2, 4. 



and his name appears 6tli June, 1794, as one of the signers to the noted mani- 
festo, for the observance of the Sabbath. 

About the beginning of the present century, he removed to the head of Lake 
George, and erected the first building on the site now occupied by the stone store 
in Caldwell. Here he carried on a trade in general merchandise. He also owned 
an ashery for the manufacture of potash at the foot of the hill near his store and 
on the bank of the lake at the north side of the brook. His success was not 
commensurate with his enterprise, which was at least half a century in advance 
of the age, in which he lived. Attracted by the newly discovered mineral waters 
of Ballston, he removed thither, where he soon after died (in the year 1802), and 
where his remains now lie buried in an unknown and unhonored grave. 



Jwali, 




OM 



(a) Family traditions state that the ancestry of the Wing family immigrated 
to this country from Wales, the name being originally spelled Winge. Like 
many other eastern families they claim that three brothers came over together, 
and divided their destinies at diiFerent points of settlement in New England. So 
far as traced in this connection, the Wings of this country are descended from 
John, who, with his father-in-law, the Rev. Stephen Batchelder, sailed from 
London, England, on the 9th of March, 0. S.,1G32, on board the ship William and 
li rands ; and landed on the sixth of June following, at Lynn, Mass. 

In the cold winter of 1637, he, with others, walked from Lynn to Yarmouth, in 
company with that aged minister, seeking to establish a settlement, but the under- 
taking was abandoned. John, who was doubtless a puritan in sentiment, accom- 
panied by Deborah his wife, afterwards settled in Sandwich, where by existing 
records it appears that in 1643, he had three sons, namely, Daniel, John, and 
Stephen. 

These all became Friends or Quakers, and their descendants are scattered 
literally through every state in the Union. 

Daniel,' the eldest son, was born in England, and married Hannah Swift of 
Sandviich, Mass, on the fifth of September, 1643. He had a numerous family. 
His son Daniel ^ was born on the 28th of November, 1664, who married Deborah 
Dillingham of Sandwich, in 1686. His oldest son Edward was born on the tenth 
of July, 1687. He had three wives, first. Desire Smith, Nov., 1713, of Dartmouth, 
whither he removed ; second, Sarah Tucker, daughter of Abraham and Hannah 
Tucker on the first of June, 1714. She died in 1727. And third. Patience Ellis, 
October, 1728. 



• The name of Daniel Winge is found in the records of the town of Sandwich, for the years 
1653-7-8. Prom these entries it appears that he was a man of substance, a Quaker, " refused to 
take the oath of fidelity," and, that by reason of his religious belief, he was, after some vexations 
and persecutions, finally " excluded from Sandwich," and "his estate distributed." — Plymouth 
Becord, vol. 30, p. 1.30, 1.38. 

'•^ May 13th, 1717. Daniel Wing, of the town of Sandwich, in the county of Barnstable, in the Pro- 
vince of Massachusetts Bay, iii New England, deeds half his undivided interest in his lands in 
Dartmouth, in the county of Bristol, colony aforesaid, to his son, Edward Wing. In this instru- 
ment, Daniel is spoken of as a cooper, and Edward as a husbandman. Deborah is also named as 
the wife of Daniel. Edward is also mentioned in other conveyances as an inn holder and as a 
weaver.— Wing Manuscripts. 



56 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

TREASUKER. 
Wing, Abraham, 1770 to 1790, inclusive. 



Abraham Wing,' the subject of this sketch, was the son of "Edward and Sarah 
(Tucker) Wing, and was born at Dartmouth, Bristol county, Province of Massa- 
chusetts Bay on the fourth of August, 1721. 

The precise period of his marriage and removal to the Oblong, in Dutchess 
Co., N. Y., we have no means of at present determining. In a conveyance exe- 
cuted by William Wood of Dartmouth (supposed to be his father-in-law), to 
Abraham Wing, 6th July, 1745, it speaks of the latter as a tailor of Oblong, etc. 
His wife's maiden name was Anstis Wood, she was born on the 7th of September, 
1733 ; their oldest child Phebe, according to the family record, was born 5th of 
March, 1743, and therefore it is inferred that they were married about the year 
1740 or 41, and removed to the Oblong about the year 1744. The fruit of the 
union was ten children, all daughters but two ; and all but two, namely, Phebe 
the eldest, and Hannah the third, became residents of this town. These two 
married brothers by the name of Merritt and remained behind, in Dutchess 
county. The family record is given below as copied irom the Family Bible 
supplemented by other records. 

Abraham Wing, b. 4th of 8th month, 1721, d. 3d of 5th month, 1795. 
Anstis Wing, b. 7th of 9th month, 1723, d. 39th of 5th month, 1807. 

Children. 
Phebe, b. 5th of 3d month, 1742, m. Nehemiah Merritt jr. ) 
Sarah, b. 7th of 12th month, 1743, m. Ichabod Merritt,'* [■ brothers. 
Hannah, b. 28th of 12th month, 1745, m. Daniel Merritt, ) 
Benjamin, b. 18th of 9th month, 1748, m. Thankful Lockwood, d. 19th June, 1824. 
Deborah, b. 6th of 7th month, 1750, m. Daniel Jones. 
Patience, b. 6th of 9th month, 1751, m. Phineas Babcock. 

Content, b. 11th of 4th month, 1755, m. \- "l^^^^ ^JP^^' 
' i James Higson. 

Abraham, b. 29th of 6th month, 1757, m. Mary McKie. 

Mary, b. 9tli of 11th month, 1760, m. Andrew Lewis. 

On the 29th of May, 1762, the patent of Queensbury was granted to 33 peti- 
tioners. In the mouth of June, following, Mr. Abraham Wing, of the Oblong, in 
Dutchess county purchased of several of the patentees, and for a nominal sum, 
all their right, title and interest in the grant. In August, following, the official 
survey of the town was made by Zaccheus Towner and divided into sections. These 
were distributed by lot, at a meeting of the proprietors, and subsequently deeds 
of partition were executed, giving to each one a title to his individual claim. In 
this allotment Abraham Wing came into possession of two of the sections upon 
which the principal portion of the village of Glen's Falls is now built. He was 
subsequently granted by the proprietors, as a free gift, a lot of ten acres contain- 
ing the valuable water privileges on the left bank of the river, in consideration 
of his erecting a grist mill and saw mill at that point. In 1765 he removed with 
his dependents and laborers and commenced a settlement, three log houses being 
put up that fall and winter, one of which stood back of the old McDonald 
mansion, near the rail road, the second at the old Buckbee place on the Sandy 
Hill road, and the third near Mr. Duncan McGregor's residence. In the spring 

> For very cBsicntial parts of the Information herein contained I am indebted to Newell Hoxie 
of Sandwich, Mass. 

^Joseph Merritt, son of Ichabod, was the flri<t white child born in the town. He was born in 
the log dwelling which stood in the rear of the McDonald manbion. 



CIVIL LIST. 57 



SUPERVISORS. 



Babcock, Phineas, (a) 1779-80, Brown, Daniel V., 1859. 

3, 4, 6. Cool, Keyes P., 1855. 

Briggs, William, 1856. Cornell, Benjamin, 1802, 4. 



of 1766, their families were moved up and in May their first town meeting was 
held, at which Mr. Wing was elected supervisor of the town, a position to which 
he was elected year by year, until after the close of the Revolutionary war, and 
during all that period he was looked up to as the great man of the place, the mer- 
chant, the lawyer, the minister and the innkeeper united in one. He, with all his 
sons-in-law, suffered material losses through the war, chiefly through appropria- 
tions and requisitions made by the American army, and for which no adequate 
compensation was ever received. Although possessed of a considerable estate, 
it is believed that in the latter days of Mr. Wing his affairs were considerably 
straitened. Through all his life he remained a consistent and earnest member 
of the sect in whose religious views he was brought up and educated. His re- 
mains, with those of many other of the first settlers here, repose in the little burial 
groimd by the Half-way brook, where the old Quaker church stood ; and here they 
have been buried without tablet or monument to mark their final resting place. 
The following extract from his last will and testament has been kindly furnished 
me by Judge Gibson, Esq., of Salem, N. Y. : 

Wing, Abraham of Queensbury, Wash. Co., last will and testament dated 
" 30 day of 9 month" 1794. Give to my wife Anstis the sole use of my house 
and farm containing about 342 acres and all my stock, farming utensils and house- 
hold furniture during her natural life. To my son Benjamin and to his heirs, 
etc., the above homestead with stock, etc., on farm at death of my wife, to my 
grandson Russell Leicis at my and his G. mother's decease," if he shall live with 
us till that time or when he shall be of age one yoke of oxen and two good cows, 
to the remainder of my children and G. children, viz : Abraham Winge, Phebe 
Merritt, Patience Babcock, Content Hixou, Mary Lewis, Grd. children, Joseph, 
Mary and Deborah Merritt, Richard and Mary Jones, Russell Lewis and Willett 
Wing all the rest of my estate, viz : 50 acres of land at the meadow, rear of first 
Division lots No. 87, 86, 85, 37, 19, 17, and half of 10 and 4, to divide among 
Abraham, Phebe, Patience, Content, Mary, Joseph, Mary, Deborah, Richard, Mary, 
Russell and Willett, and if any or either of my Grd. children should die without a 
lawful heir, then their shares among the survivors. Appoints his wife Anstis exx. 
and his son Abraham, and friend Elisha Folger exrs. Witnesses : Warren Ferriss, 
John A. Ferriss, Reed Ferriss. Proved before the surrogate of Wash. Co., 27 May, 
1795, and the same by Abraham Wing, qualified as exr. 

(a) Phikeas Babcock was one of the earliest immigrants to this town and pro- 
bably accompanied Abraham Wing at the time of his first settlement. He mar- 
ried Patience, one of the daughters of Mr. Wing, and by her raised a numerous 
family. For a period of more than twenty years his name appears continuously 
in the town records, he having been elected to fill in turn the various local offices 
from pathmaster to supervisor. 

To the latter position he was elected several times. With the other residents of 
the town he suffered heavy losses, during the Revolutionary war, through the 
rapacity of contending armies, and for which he never received any compensation. 
At one time he lived at the head of the lake. Writing from William Henry 



58 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

Curtis, Quartus, 1850, 1, 2. FERausoN, George, (a) 1861, 2, 3. 

Dean, David M., 1833, 39, 40, 1. Ferriss, John A., 1813, 27, 8, 9. 



" 3d July, 1781," lie speaks of their daughter Dolly having a fine son, " abought 
two months old " — Wing Manusenpts. 

Not far from the year 1790 he removed to St. Albans, Vt., where, about one mile 
.west of the present village, he settled. 

Here, in 1803, he erected what was to be his future home and that of his family 
the first framed house in that vicinity. " Here," to quote the language of a mem- 
ber of the family, " by the practice of frugality, and cheered by the consolations 
of religion, he pleasantly passed the remainder of his days in the bosom of his de- 
voted family, and literally amidst the fragrance and beauty of surrounding shrubs 
and flowers planted by the hands of his affectionate companion, a woman of ele- 
vated aspirations, and refined taste and culture." 

He died about the year 1820. His wife survived him about fifteen years. She 
died at the house of her son-in-law, Willard Jewell, Esq., St. Albans, Vt., in the 
month of February, 1836, aged 84 years. Mr. Jewell is understood to be still 
living in the same vicinity, and at about the same advanced age. The children, 
nine in number, of the first generation were all scattered to various parts of the 
country and are now all dead.^ 

{a) George Ferguson, the third child of Henry and Rosanna (Harris) Fer- 
guson of this place, was born in Glen's Falls on the 10th of July, 1831. 

His father removed to this place in 1828, from Half Moon, in Saratoga Co., where 
he was born and brought up, and where he carried on successfully a grocery 
business for a number of years. 

He immediately embarked in trade with Henry Philo, Esq., at the upper end of 
the village as it was considered and called in those days. They purchased jointly 
of Francis Fritts and Mary, his wife, the lot cornering on Glen and South streets, 
where as long ago as 1787, Abraham Haviland had carried on a blacksmith shop. 
The consideration was one hundred dollars good and lawful money, and the con- 
veyance was witnessed by and acknowledged before John Mallory, a commissioner 
of deeds. May 20th, 1829. Philo and Ferguson carried on business here for a 
number of years, and it became quite a noted resort. In 1834, Philo assigned 
his interest in the real estate, for five hundred dollars. Some years later he dis- 
posed of his interest in the merchandise, and stock in trade, and retired from the 
business. 

About the year 1840-^1, Mr. Ferguson moved ofi" an old building which had 
been used by A. A. Holdredge as a watch repair, and jewelry shop, and erected 
what was considered in those days, a fine brick building, to be used as a store, 
and the former store was moved back, and a two story wooden dwelling erected 
on its site. A view of the old store is given herewith. 

As a remarkable instance of the mutation of values, the place last year was 
sold for twenty thousand dollars. Mr. Henry Ferguson had five children, as 
follows : Ann, Hiram, George, Henry Augustus, Mary Elizabeth. The latter died 
in 1872. Henry has attained an enviable distinction as an artist. Last year he 
spent in South America among the ])inuacles and slopes of the Andes, executing 
commissions to the amount of many thousands of dollars. Hiram established him- 



1 For a considerable portion of the information contained in this sketch the author is indebted 
to John J. Dcavitt, Esq., a lawyer of St. Albans, Vt., and formerly a cadet at West Point ; he 
married 2.5th November, 1&30, Patieuco Wing Jewell, daughter of Willard Jewell, and grand- 
daughter of Phiueas Babcock . 



CIVIL LIST. 



59 



THE FERGUSON STORES. 




OLD STORE. 

Built in 1854. Previous to its erection the corner was used as a garden plot 
for about ten years. 




NEW STORE. 



Its construction was commenced October 10th, 1871, and completed 
July 1st, 1872. 



60 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

Ferriss, David, (a) 1785. Gilchrist, Charles M., (b) 1869, 

Ferriss, Warren, 1795, 6, 7. 70, 1, 2, 3. 

Finch, James C, 1854. Griffin, Bartholomew, 1843, 4, 

Gardner, Dilwin, 1823, 4, 5. 5. 

self in the wood engraving business many years ago in Albany, and his establish- 
ment is the leading concern of that kind north of New York. 

Like most of the Glen's Falls boys, George had but small advantages in the 
way of an education. A few winters in the district school, a few terms in the 
academy constituted its sum total. He early exhibited a remarkable aptitude for, 
and application to business. 

He was admitted to a partnership in his father's store when he reached his ma- 
jority. The wholesale destruction of all the mercantile establishments of the 
place, with the exception of Ferguson's, in the great fire of 1864, contributed to 
build up rapidly what was already a well established and remunerative trade. 

After the death of his father, which took place on the second of February, 1868, 
George bought out the remaining heirs and has since conducted the store alone. 
The building was reconstructed in 1872, and now forms a handsome addition to 
the street. A view of the new building may be seen on page 59. 

Mr. Ferguson, as will be seen by the record, has several times held the position 
of town clerk, and later of supervisor. He is yet in the prime of manhood, and 
has all the promise of an active and useful life before him. His mother died Aug. 
17, 1869. 




(a) All that I have been able to ascertain in regard to David Ferris is, that while 
yet there was little more than a bridle path from Glen's Falls, then known as 
the Corners, to the Ridge, he settled on the farm now occupied by Isaac Mosher 
a little south of the Half-way brook on the road to the Oneida, where he built him 
a log house, which he not long afterwards abandoned, and, being of an adven- 
turous turn, went west, where after various adventures, was finally accidentally 
drowned in the Mississippi, while running a raft of timber down that stream. 
The name of Widow Ferris appears recorded on the town book for the year 
1793. 

(6) The Gilchrist families of Glen's Falls and Fort Edward, have a tradition and 
claim that they are the inheriters by collateral descent of the large estate and cas- 
tle of Balmoral in Scotland. The ancestor of the American branch, came to this 
country shortly prior to the Revolution, and was the head of this which, among 
many Scotch families, in those early days, took up tracts of land in and about 
Argyle, Hebron and Fort Edward. The heir in the direct line failed for want of 
issue something over forty years ago 

During Burgoyne's advance in the Revolution, and while his force lay encamped 
at Kingsbury street, the Gilchrist homestead with its family Bible and records was 
burned by a party of marauding Indians. Other outrages and atrocities were 
perpetrated in the same neighborhood by the same gang. A single link in the 
chain of evidence necessary to establish the proof of heirship was thus destroyed, 
and so, the estate with its immense revenues lajjsed to the crown, and Queen Vic- 
toria makes it her summer residence. A striking instance of the value of a perfect 
family record. 



, CIVIL LIST. 61 

Harris, John J., 1842. Robards, William, (a) 1786, 90, 

Lapham, Jerome, 1857, 8, 64, 1, 2, 4. 

5. Roberts, William, 1805, 6, 7, 9. 

Mallory, John, 1810, 11, 12. Robertson, Alexander, 1853, 68. 

Morgan, Alonzo W., 1834, 6, 46, Sanpord, G-eorge, 1837, 8. 

7, 66, 7. Seelye, Nehemiah,i 1783, 4. 

Murray, John, 1791. Sisson, James, 1849. 

Odell, Augustine, 1788, 9. Stower, Asa, (6) 1798, 9, 1800, 1, 

Peck, William, 1848. 8, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 1, 2, 6, 30, 

Pettit, Micajah, 1803. 1, 2, 5. 

Phelps, Walter, 1860. Vaughn, James, 1814. 

Pitcher, Alfred, 1817. Wing, Abraham, 1766, 7, 8, 9, 70, 

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 85, 7. 

(a) William Robards was born in the town of Canaan, Connecticut, on the 
10th of February, 1749. He married on the 28th December, 1774, Phebe Fuller, 
who was born at the Oblong, Dutchess county, N. Y., 26th March, 1756. He is 
conjectured to have removed to this place about the time of his marriage, although 
his name does not appear on the town records until after the close of the Revolu- 
tionary struggle. He purchased a very desirable farm on the Ridge and owned 
large quantities of land in various parts of the town. He was merchant, farmer, 
manufacturer and magistrate. A man of large influence and wide popularity. Dur- 
ing the war he was twice made a prisoner and conveyed to Canada. 

The first time was in 1777 at the date of Burgoyne's advance, when, with his 
wife's brother, Andrew Fuller, and two of Wing's sons-in law, Andrew Lewis and 
James Higson, a flying party of Tories and Indians made them prisoners, and con- 
veyed them to Montreal, where they all had to run the gauntlet. Robards, being 
fleet of foot, made his escape but was afterwards recaptured. He afterward suc- 
ceeded in escaping again from his prison house by breaking through the windows 
and scaling the wall and after terrible exposures and suflFerings reached his home. 
He was again made prisoner wliile hunting for stray horses in the neighborhood 
of the Blind rock at the time of Carleton's advance in 1791, and was exchanged at 
the end of the war. He was buried in the family burying ground by the Round 
pond at the Oneida. The slab which marks the place of sepulture bears the fol- 
lowing inscription : 

" In memory of WILLIAM ROBARDS, ESQ., 

Who died August 9, 1802, 

In the 54th year of his age. 

He lived and died respected in Society. 

Princes this clay must be your bed 
In spite of all your towers, 
The tall, the wise, the reverend head 
Must lie as low as ours." 

(&) Asa Stower. was a native of Massachusetts, born as nearly as can be deter- 
mined in one of the western border towns of that state. His early childhood was 



1 No lists of town officers are contained in the town records for the years 1781 and 2. It is 
therefore inferred that, in consequence of the unsettled state of the country, and the continuance 
of the war, the inhabitants had fled back to old Dutchess county for safety, and that no town 
meetings were held in these years. 

In the years 1783, 4, 5 and 6 two supervisors had been elected, who appeared to act joiutly in 
discharging the duties of that office. 



62 HISTORY OF TEE TOWN OF QUEENSBURT. 



TOWN CLERKS. 

Babcock, Phineas, 1786. Ferriss, John A., 1796, 7, 8, 9, 

Baldwin, Israel P., 1813. 1800, 1, 4. 

Barber, Hiram, 1826. Ferriss, Warren, 1795. 

Cool, Keyes P., 1831. Gardner, Dilwin, 1815. 

CowLES, Daniel H., 1847. Ketchum, Daniel B., 1861, 2, 3, 

Derby, John, 1816. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 70, 1, 2. 

Ferguson, George, 1854, 5, 6, 7, Mead, Orlin, 1834, 5. 

8, 9, 60. Paine, Lemuel C, 1812. 



passed at or near New Lebanon, N. T. While yet a small boy, his father em- 
braced the Shaker faith, and joined the society at that place, removing his family 
among them. 

He soon afterward died of small pox, when the mother, who still retained her 
religious views (being a Presbyterian), took her children, and went back to live on 
their farm, for which they were still considerably in debt, but, with the help of 
the boys, after a few years finished paying for their home. 

Asa with his elder brother was allowed to attend the district school, and possess- 
ing a laudable ambition with a studious turn of mind, acqmred a fair knowledge 
not only of the rudimentary branches of learning there taught, but applying him- 
self at leisure hours to the pursuit of the more recondite departments of science, 
evincing a special aptitude and taste in the direction of botany, a study then but 
little pursued in this country, and still in its infancy. His inclination in this direc- 
tion, doubtless determined the choice of a profession, and at the age of eighteen 
he commenced the study of medicine, which he steadily prosecuted with such aid 
as his mother, in her straightened circumstances, could afford. At the age of 
twenty -one he had completed his studies, and with a horse, saddle and bridle, and 
a pair of saddle bags filled with medicine, the parting gift of his mother, he started 
out to seek his fortune. What led him to Queensbury is not known, but certain 
it is, he came as the pioneer of the medical profession in Warren county, in 1790, 
first making his home with William Robards, Esq., who lived in a dwelling sub- 
sequently burned, not far from the late residence of John M. Haviland near the 
Ridge. 

Here he commenced his life work, and here he remained for a number of years, 
supplying a circle of country thinly settled, but very sickly, many miles in extent. 
Being economical, plain in his tastes and inexpensive in his habits, he soon 
acquired a competency. One of his first purchases was the farm at the Ridge, 
now owned and occupied by Joseph Haviland, disposing of which, he bought the 
farm where Anson Staples now lives, where he passed the remainder of his days, 
in works of kindness and usefulness. In those early days, when th^ facilities for 
education were not as plentiful or accessible as at present, his office was the resort 
of medical students, who almost from the commencement of their studies were 
enabled to pay their way, and ac(juire practical with theoretical knowledge, by 
assisting the doctor in his long and laborious rides. Among the number who 
thus graduated from his office and supplied the adjacent country in the years 
following, were Dr. Lemuel C. Paine, Dr. Jsathan Tubbs, Dr. Seneca Wing, two 
brothers and a cousin by the name of Dean, Dr. Durfee and others whose names 
are forgotten or not readily recalled to mind. 

In a communication to the author in 1870, the venerable Dr. Paine speaks of 



CIVIL LIST. 



63 



Parsons, Elnathan, 1823, 4, 5. 
Peck, Charles, 1848, 9, 50, 1, 2, 3. 
Peck, Daniel, 1805, 6, 7, 8,9, 10, 

11. 
Peck, Hermon, 1830. 
Peck, yViLLiAM, 1836, 7, 8. 
Pettit, Mioajah, 1814. 
Pixley, Lewis L., 1827. 
Patter, JohnE. 2d, 1873. 
Putnam, Asaph, (a) 1766, 7, 8, 9, 

70, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. 



Ranger, Ezra, 1832. 
Sanford, David, 1802, 3. 
Seaman, Allen T., 1833. 
Sisson, James, 1841, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. 
Spencer, Henry, 1817,18, 19, 20, 

1,2. 
Tallmadge, Samuel S., 1828, 9. 
Wells, James, 1839, 40. 
Wing, Benjamin, 1778, 9, 80, 3, 

4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 90, 1, 2, 3, 4. 



liim as follows : " Dr. Asa Stower, was held in bigli repute all over the country. 
He was a great reader and had a retentive memory, but I think he was more 
diffuse than profound in his reading, and was far from being a scientific man in 
his profession. He was strictly a physician of the old school, but by reading and 
observation he had acquired a stock of medical information and experience which 
made him truly a successful and useful physician. He was a bachelor, and a 
little singular in his manners and habits ; by some he would be deemed a little 
odd, at least not exactly Chesterfieldian in his address and manners, especially 
among the ladies." He acquired during his long practice, a handsome property, 
owning real estate in various parts of the towa. One of the last acts of his life 
was to order his accounts against the poor to be destroyed, in order that they 
might not be distressed to make their payments. 

Of an estate, whose final adjustment realized upwards of twenty thousand dol- 
lars, not enough was left, by the greed of his heirs at law, to pay for a gravestone. 
Among his old neighbors a subscription was taken up sufficient to pay for a plain 
marble slab, on which is engraved the following simple inscription, a touchino- 
memorial of the evanescent character of all earthly things. 
"DR. ASA STOWER, 
Died May 25, 1848. 
Aged 79 Years. 
He lived respected in Society." 




(a) Just what relations were held by Asaph Putnam to Mr. Abraham Wing is 
unknown, although it is conjectured that he was a connection, possibly a brother- 
in-law. It will be seen that he was here holding an important position in the 
infant settlement, during-the first ten years of its existence. He was a member 
of the society of friends as existing letters go to show. After he left here, he re- 
moved to the New City, now Lansingburgh, where he embarked in business. 
A long and acrimonious correspondence was carried on with Mr. Wing after his 
removal, charging the latter with taking some undue advantage of him in busi- 
ness matters. As no proof appeared in the premises it is inferred that his griev- 
ance was nursed until it attained an unendurable gravity and importance. While 
a resident of this town he lived in a small log dwelling, facing South street on 
the estate of the late Roger Havilaud, near the Big dam. 



64 



HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 



JUSTICES OF THE PEACE.i 



Baker, Morville, 1856. 
Barber, Hiram, 1827, 8, 9, 30, 1. 
Beadlestone, Stephen, 1821, 2. 
BuELL, Horatio, 1815, 16. 
Cheney, George W., 1852, 3, 4, 5, 

8, 9, 60, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 

70, 1, 2, 3. 
Cornell, Benjamin, 1801, 2, 3, 4. 
Curtis, Gteorge, 1865. 
Dickinson, David F., 1817, 18. 
DuTTON, Isaac E., 1855. 
Ellis, Enoch, 1822, 3, 4, 5, 6. 
Ellsworth, Judiah, 1856, 7. 
Emmons, Adonijah, 1816, 17. 
Ferriss, Orange, 1838, 9, 40, 1, 

5, 6, 7, 8. 
Ferriss, Warren, 1795, 6, 7, 8, 9, 

1800, 1, 2, 3, 4. 
Forbes, Horace, 1817, 18. 
Fox, Alanson, 1812, 13. 
Gardner, Dilwin, 1813, 14, 15, 

16, 20, 1, 2, 3. 
Green, Amos, 1819, 20. 



Geer, Walter Jr., 1821, 2, 3, 4, 

5,6. 
Griffin, Bartholomew, 1827, 8, 

9, 30, 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 40, 1, 2, 

3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 50, 1, 2, 3. 
Gurnet, Joseph N., 1852. 
Harris, Michael, 1806, 7, 8, 9. 
Hawley, Elias, 1818, 19. 
Hay, William, 1821, 2, 3, 4. 
Henderson, James, 1815, 16, 17. 
Hoffman, Hermon, 1804, 5, 6, 7. 
HoTCHKiss, William, 1869, 70, 

12 3. 
Jenkins, Gamaliel, 1857, 8, 9, 

60, 1, 2. 
Jenkins, Lyman, 1864, 5, 6, 7, 8, 

9,70, 1,2,3. 
Jenkins, Palmer B., 1842, 3, 4, 

5. 
Jenkins, Ransom, 1834, 5, 6, 7, 

8, 9, 70. 
Leavens, Royal, 1813, 14, 15. 
McDonald, William, (a) 1821. 



(a) William McDonald, was born the 29tli of February, 1784, in New Milford, 
Litchfield Co., Conn., a locality which has furnished many of the earlier settlers 
of the town of Queensbury, among the number being the large and influential 
families of Pecks and Sanfords. His paternal grand-father immigrated from 
Scotland during the old French war. His father was a physician of considerable 
eminence, and as a surgeon served in the American army during the Revolution- 
ary struggle. 

After the war was ended, he resumed the practice of his profes'&ion at New 
Rochelle, Westchester Co., N. Y., where he died at the advanced age of 85. 

His mother's name was Mary, the sister of David Sanford, who removed to 
this town about the year 1785, and was one of the first settlers at the Ridge, 
where he established a large and very successful mercantile business. 

Mr. McDonald first came to this town when he was only eight years old, but 



> Previous to the year 1827, justices were appointed. Owing to the mutilated and imperfect 
couditiou of the town records, it has been very difficult to compile a Civil List, even approximat- 
ing to accuracy anterior to that date. 

On the 7ih of April, 1827, a new enactment was passed by the state legislature by which the 
officers of juptice became elective, provisions being made lor the election of four at the outset, 
tht:ir respective terms of office to bo deteiniiucd l)y lot. 

Pursuant to this act, the newly elected board met on the 24th of November, 1827, and drew lots 
with the following results : Bartholomew Griffin, First Class, Ira A. Paddock, Second Class, 
Hiram Barber, Third Class, Samuel S. Tallmadge, Fourth Class. 



'- ^Uh 



\ 




^ANK NOTE t ENC CO- CMiCftCO 



'^n^vn^Jh^JU. 



CIVIL LIST. 65 

Mallort, John, 1817, 18. Paddock, Ira A., 1825, 6, 7, 8, 

Morgan, Carlos, 1861, 2, 3, 4, 5, 48, 9, 50, 1. 

6, 7, 8. Parsons, Elnathan, 1815, 16. 



sliortly afterward returned to New Milford, where he received what was con- 
sidered for those days a good education. In 1799, having become an accomplished 
penman and accountant, he returned to Queensbury, and immediately received 
employment by his Uncle Sanford, as a clerk in the management of his extended 
business. By his assiduity and devotion to his employer's interest he very shortly 
became the trusted manager of the store, Mr. Sanford's time being engrossed by 
outside pursuits. His fair, even and bold chirography appears on the town re- 
cords for the years 1802, and 3, when Mr. Sanford held the office of town clerk. 
At the time of the institution of old Hamilton Lodge, F. and A. M., in 1805, he 
was made a mason, a large delegation of high officials in that organization from 
Albany and vicinity, visiting for the purpose, and conferring the degrees. About 
the same time he bought his uncle's interest in the store, and continued the busi- 
ness until 1808, when he removed to the thriving village of Waterford. Here he 
embarked in a large and successful trade, in which he continued until the year 
1820 when he returned to the Ridge and resumed the mercantile business in the 
old place. 

Three years later he disposed of his stock and removed to Glen's Falls, where 
he soon afterward bought the old Wing farm, and enlarged, rebuilt and com- 
pleted the half finished dwelling to a spacious and elegant mansion, the home he 
continued to occupy up to the time of his death. 

Prior to the erection of Warren county, and until after the year 1822, the dis- 
trict embraced by Warren and Washington counties sent from three to six mem- 
bers to the legislature, according to the ratio of representation. In 1821, Mr. 
McDonald was placed in nomination for the assembly, in opposition to Asahel 
Clark, a Clintonian of distinguished abilities and extended influence. Notwith- 
standing the nmnerical ascendancy of the Clintonian party, the bucktail ticket was 
successful in this district, chiefly through Mr. McDonald's great popularity, and 
instrumentality in bringing about one of those political revulsions, which, like a 
whirlwind, triumphantly sweeps a^'ay all opposition. It was during this session 
of the legislature, that a survey and appropriation was obtained through Mr. Mc- 
Donald's personal efforts, for the construction of the Glen's Falls' Feeder. He was 
reelected to the assembly the following year, and such was his popularity that 
there were only seventeen votes cast against him in town. He was again elected 
to the assembly in 1828. 

To him, more than any other one man, is the credit due of opening up the re- 
sources of the place and preparing the way for that healthy development, and 
growth which makes it to day one of the great business centres of northern 
New York. 

As is shown by the record, Mr. McDonald was chosen one of the vestrymen of 
the Episcopal church at its first organization. 

At the formation of the old Commercial Bank he was elected its president, 
which position he held with great acceptance for a term of years. 

From that time forth he kept retired from the cares and toils of public life, de- 
voting his leisure to the management of his estate and the remainder of his days 
were passed in serene tranquility. 

He died on Sunday, the eleventh of September, 1870, and his remains were de- 
posited in the new cemetery, where a large and costly monument marks the place 
of his earthly rest. 

9 



66 



HISTORY OF THE TOWN OP QUEENSBURY. 



Peck Daniel, 1807, 8, 9, 10, 11, 

12, 13. 
Peirsons, Eli C, 1835, 6. 
Perine, Joseph S., 1848, 9, 50, 

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. 
Pettit, Micajah, 1802, 3, 4, 5. 
Philo, Nathan A., 1829, 30, 1, 2. 
Pitcher, Alfred, 1823, 4, 5. 
Ripley, Asa, 1820. 
Ripley, James, 1817, 18, 19, 20. 
Roberts, William, 1795, 6, 7, 8, 

9, 1800, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. 
Robinson, William, 1851, 2, 3, 

4, 6, 7, 8, 9. 
Scott, Daniel D., 1812, 13, 14, 15. 
SissoN, James, 1848. 
Skinner, Samuel G-., 1823, 4. 



Spencer, Henry, 1807, 8, 9, 10, 

18, 19, 20, 1, 32, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 

8,9. 
Stewart, Robert, 1860, 1, 2, 3, 

4,5,6, 7,8,9,70, 1,2,3. 
Stower, Asa, 1817, 18. 
Tallmadge, Samuel S., 1827, 8, 

9, 30, 1, 6, 7, 8, 9, 40, 1, 2, 3. 
Vantassel, Hermon, 1839, 40, 1, 

2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 50. 
Vaughn, James, 1811, 12, 13, 14, 

17, 18, 19, 20, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. 
Vernor, John, 1796, 7, 8, 9, 1800, 

12 3 

J., .J, u. 

Wing, Halsey R., (a) 1844, 5, 6, 

7. 
Wing, Nehemiah, 1863. 



(a) Halsey Rogers Wing, eldest son of Daniel W., and Rhoda A. (Stewart) 
Wing, was born in a building occupying part of the site of tbe Middlewortb. 
House, at Sandy Hill, N. Y., wbicb, at that time was one of tlie most active and 
flourisliing villages between Albany and Montreal. His father was at the time 
named, and for some years subsequently, an innkeeper, in a building (since 
burned) known as the Eagle hotel. In 1814 he removed to the lower part of the 
village of Fort Edward, where he resided for a number of years near the place 




l^/^^ 




now occupied by S. R. Durkee. Here Halsey had the benefit of the local schools, 
and the experience acquired by rendering such assistance as he was able in the 
management of his father's business. 

His aptitude for study, and persevering application to his books, undoubtedly 
determined the direction of his career and the choice of a profession. At the age 
of sixteen he was sent to the celebrated academy at Lenox, Mass. After three 
years of a thorough academic course under the supervision of Prof. Hotchkiss, its 
very able principal, he went first to Yale, and subsequently to Middlebury 
College, Vt., where he entered the Sophomore class, graduated in course and 
took his baccalaureate degree, on the 15th of August, 1832. He had probably 
already commenced the study of law, for his license shows that he was admitted 
to the bar as an attorney, in October, 1834. His legal studies were pursued in 
the office of the eminent jurisconsult, the Hon. Samuel Cheever. In the interim 
of student life he served for a brief period, as assistant district attorney of Albany 
county. 

Soon after his admission to the bar, he was awarded a gold medal by the Young 
Mens' Association of Albany, for an essay of distinguished merit (afterwards 



CIVIL LIST. 67 



COMMISSIONERS OF COMMON SCHOOLS. i 

Ames, Moody, 1828, 9, 30, 1, 3. Eastwood, Martin, 1830. 

Barber, Hiram, 1835, 6, 7, 8. Ferriss, John A., 1818, 19, 20, 1, 
Bartow, Elijah, 1796, 7, 8, 9, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. 

1800. Ferriss, Warren, 1796, 7, 8, 9, 
Beadlestone, Stephen, 1810, 11, 1800. 

12, 13, 14, 15, 16. FoLGER, Elisha, 1821. 

CowLES, Daniel H., 1837. Freeman, Jonathan W., 1834. 



printed) wMcli was read before that body. The following are the inscriptions 
copied from the medal, now in the possession of the family. 

Obverse. . Reverse. 

The Huygen's Premium, For the 

Awarded, ^ Best Essay on 

Nov. 1st, 1834, ' the influence of the 

by Study of the Physical and 

The Young Mens' Mathematical Sciences 

Association for Mutual Improvement, On the Character of Man 

In the City of Albany, and the usefulness and application 

To Halsey R. Wing. of these sciences to the 

Common purposes 
of life. 

In December following, his name was inscribed upon the rolls, as solicitor in 
chancery, and about the same time he removed to Brockport, Monroe county, 
where he opened a law office, with E. B. Holmes as partner. 

He remained but a short time at this place, but removing to the larger and more 
promising village of Buffalo, whose coming greatness and importance were already 
casting shadows before, he formed a new partnership with Judge Frederick P. 
Stevens. Here, with the dawn before him of a lucrative practice, and a wide 
spread popularity among the laboring classes, we find him fairly launched upon 
the swift current of life. 

On the 31st of August, 1835, he was married with Harriet N., sister of the Hon. 
E. P. Walton, of Montpelier, Vt., who has lately represented that district for two 
consecutive terms in Congress. 

Of this vmion, it is not improper to say that it has been one of the most perfect 
accord and harmony. The chivalric and devoted respect with which he always 
regarded the gentler sex, found an apotheosis in his wife, whom he reverenced and 
loved with a devotion which few have equalled, and none excelled. Through all 
his life, he seems to have made it a special study to spare those he loved from all 
care, trouble, anxiety or apprehension. 

He came to Glen's Falls in 1841 , in which year he was admitted as counselor 
at law, and the following year, as solicitor in the United States Courts, and coun- 
selor in chancery. He became, from the first, prominently identified with the 



' The office of school commissioner was created by the act of 1795, relating to common schools. 
According to the provisions of the law, not less than three, nor more than seven commissioners 
were annually to he chosen by the electors of their respective towns. To them was committed 
the supervision and direction of the schools, and the apportionment of the public moneys among 
the several school districts.— Vide Eandall's Digest, p. 6. From 1800 to 1812 it does not appear 
that any commissioners of schools were elected in Queensbury. The office was abolished at th» 
time the office of town superintendent was created. 



68 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

Green, Amos, 1824, 5, 8, 9. Miner, John, 1798. 

Griffin, Bartholomew, 1826. Mosher, Isaac, 1834, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 

Jenkins, Palmer B., 1831, 2. 40, 1, 2, 3. 

KiMBERLY, Israel, 1822, 3. Nelson, Asaph, 1830, 1, 2. 

McDonald, William, 1820. Numan, Lewis, 1835, 6. 

Mallory, John, 1818. Philo, Henry, 1839. 

interests of the democratic party, of wliich lie lias been a life long, and unvarying 
supporter. 

In the fall of 1843, he was appointed, by the board of supervisors, to the position of 
county superintendent of common schools. 

In 1845 he became the first judge of the county, having previously been elected 
to the office of justice of the peace and inspector of common schools. 

In all these multiplied relations he invariably fulfilled the trusts, and discharged 
the duties belonging to them with fidelity and conscientious thoroughness. His 
legal practice, built up in the face of a sharp and eager competition, was always 
respectable and renumerative, and that he did not descend to do the dirty work of 
a venal bar, will be no reproach to his memory in the estimation of those whose 
opinions are worth the having. 

In 1851 one of those rare opportunities presented, which now and then prove 
the turning point in a man's fortunes. He was offered a partnership in an already 
established business, and the celebrated Jointa Lime Company, was formed, 
consisting of himself and Mr. John Keenan, to whose indefatigable industry and 
shrewd management, this company is largely indebted for its success. 

In 1853 Mr. Abraham Wing sold out his large lumbering interest, together with 
the sawmill near the dam on this side of the river to Halsey R. Wing, and his 
brother-in-law, Lansing G. Taylor. After Mr. Taylor's death (which occurred in 
1856), and the settlement of the estate, Mr. Wing became sole proprietor of the 
lumbering business aud the mills connected with it. 

After assuming these varied business cares and responsibilities, Mr. Wing gra- 
dually withdrew from the practice of law, throwing Tiis legal business into the 
hands of Isaac J. Davis, Esq., with whom he formed a law partnership in 1854 ; 
and who has since made his mark in the legal world as a sharp, astute counselor, 
and a brilliant and successful advocate. 

Later oh, Mr. Wing became one of the firm known as The Glen's Falls Com- 
pany, and of another, called The Glen's Falls Transportation Company, in both 
of which large financial and industrial interests were represented, and whose ex- 
tended operations have proved eminently successful and remunerative. He was 
also a stockholder and director in the Glen's Falls National Bank, and the Glen's 
Falls Insurance Company. In all public matters, connected with education or 
morality, Mr. Wing was an earnest and zealous worker. He was a regular at- 
tendant upon the ministrations of the Presbyterian church, and acted as one of its 
trustees at a moment of peculiar embarrassment and difficulty. He was an ardent 
and faithful laborer in the field of temperance, formerly a worthy patriarch of the 
old Glen Division, one of the charter members of Billy J. Clark Division, and a con- 
tributor to its exchequer. 

Mr. Wing was a ready promoter and advocate of the interests of education, con- 
tributing to its maintenance, and encouraging its elevation and advancement. At 
the time of his decease, he was one of the trustees of the Glen's Falls Academy. 
He was also elected president of the Young Mens' Association at its organization 
and served it faithfully in that capacity, until his term of office expired, giving 




yfi-^Ve.. 




CIVIL LIST. 69 

PiXLEY, Lewis L., 1832. Stower, Asa, 1812, 13, 14, 15, 16, 

Kansom, Fletcher, 1827, 8, 9. 17, 18, 19, 20, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 

Roberts, William, 1796, 7. 8, 9, 1839, 40, 1, 2. 

Robinson, William, 1833. Sweet, Daniel, 1833, 4. 

Scott, Daniel D., 1817. Tibbitts, Benjamin, 1799, 1800. 

Sheldon, N. Edson, 1838, 40, 1, Wilkinson, Robert, 1817. 

2, 3. Wing, Benjamin, 1796, 7, 8, 9, 

Spencer, Henry, 1812, 13^ 14, 15, 1800. 

16, 19. Wing, Richard, 1843. 



the embryo organization much of his valuable time, with the hope and aim of 

giving it permanence and stability. 

He always manifested the greatest respect for the observance and ceremonials 

of religion, tenderly regardful of the feelings of others, and, although he made 

no verbal professions of piety, his was that broader catholicity of doctrine and 

example, which holds to the belief in 

" The Gospel of the Golden Rule, 
The New Commandment given to men, 
Thinking the deed, and not the creed, 
Would help us in our utmost need." 

With the outbreak of the rebellion, Mr. Wing immediately became identified 
with the war movement, earnestly and faithfully laboring to further the interests 
of the Union. This is not the place, nor the occasion to animadvert upon the 
bitter partisanship which was resolute to declare that democrats were all 
" traitors," " copperheads," " disloyal," " in sympathy with the rebellion," etc., 
which trailed the venom and slime of foul slander upon the fairest reputations, 
and which assailed the purest patriots with the garbage of vituperation. Mr. 
Wing, as an active and prominent democrat, still clinging to that corner stone 
and palladium of our liberties, the constitution, as something to be revered, was, 
from this very prominence, a target for their assaults, and although never com- 
plaining, there is reason to believe that this state of things did much to embitter 
his existence, and to grieve unnecessarily and wantonly a sensitive spirit, always 
struggling conscientiously for the right ; and which, for mean and selfish ends, 
was persistently misrepresented and resolutely misunderstood. 

Mr. Wing was a public spirited man and a hard, efficient worker. To his ener- 
getic labors we owe many of our public improvements, and the development 
of our industrial resources, of which we have no further space to speak. 

His last appearance in public, was on the occasion of a great public festival 
given at the Cosgrove Opera House, for the benefit of the poor. He was em- 
phatically a friend to the friendless, and few appeals for help were ever turned 
unanswered away. 

His professions were sincere, his friendships enduring, and beneath a bluff 
carriage and reserved manner, he carried as kind a heart and a soul full of tender 
emotion, as ever animated a human being. Were all like him as honest and 
honorable, as pure minded and trustworthy, as unsuspicious of evil and em- 
bodying the apostolical description of charity, this world would indeed be a para- 
dise such as Eden might have been before the fall. 

Surrounded abundantly by the comforts and luxuries of life, and the tender, 
assiduous care of kind and affectionate friends, he passed peacefully to his final 
rest on the morning of Wednesday, the 26th of January, 1870. 



70 



HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 



INSPECTORS OF COMMON SCHOOLS.i 



Almy, Obadiah, 1839. 
Ames, Moody, 1826. 
Arms, Josiah L., 1820. 
Baldwin, Israel P., 1812, 13. 
Barber, Hiram, 1826, 7, 8, 9, 32, 

8, 4, 7. 
Brayton, William, 1834, 41. 
Buell, Horatio, 1814, 15, 16, 17, 

18, 19,20, 1,2,3. 
Clark, Asahel, 1814, 15, 16, 
Curtenias, John L., 1834. 
Dean, Caleb P., 1840. 
Dickinson, David F., 1817, 18, 19. 
Emmons, Adonijah, 1815, 16. 
Ferriss, Orange, 1839, 40. 
Forbes, Horace, 1816, 17. 
Fox, Warren S., 1838. 
Gardner, Dilwin, 1817, 19. 
Gtrifpin Bartholomew, 1842, 3. 
Harris, Henry Jr., 1839. 
Hay, William, 1823, 4, 5. 
Henderson, James, 1814, 16, 17, 

18,19. 
Hitchcock, John H., 1816. 
Kimberly, Israel, 1821. 
Leavins, Royal, 1817, 18, 19, 20, 

7, 8, 30, 1, 5. 



Little, Russell M., 1841. 
Low, Harvey C, 1835, 6. 
Mallory, John, 1812, 13, 14, 15, 

20. 
Manchester, G-eorge, 1832, 7. 
Mead, Orlin, 1838. 
Packard, Gridley H., 1829. 
Paddock, Ira A., 1824, 5, 8, 36, 

7. 
Perrin, Ira A., 1840, 1, 2, 3. 
Pettit, Micajah, 1813, 14. 
Pitcher, Alfred, 1818, 19. 
Ranger, Ezra, 1833. 
Ranger, Samuel, 1830. 
Ransom, Fletcher, 1823, 5, 9, 33. 
Rosekrans, Enoch H., 1835, 6,7. 
RuGG, George, 1842. 
RuGG, Levi, 1812, 13. 
Scott, Daniel D., 1816, 1843. 
Seaman, Allen T., 1830, 1, 2. 
Sheldon, N. Edson, 1839. 
Skinner, Samuel G., 1812, 13. 
Stower, Asa, 1817, 20, 2, 6, 7. 
Vaughn, James, 1815. 
White, James, 1820, 1, 2, 4. 
Wilkinson, Robert, 1813, 14, 15, 

16. 



TOWN SUPERINTENDENTS OF COMMON SCHOOLS. 



Holden, Austin W., 1856. 
MoTT, Isaac, 1850, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. 
Paddock, Franklin A., 1849. 
Paddock, Ira A., 1843. (Ap- 
pointed) 1844. 



Ferine, Joseph S., 1848. (Ap- 
pointed). 

Satterlee, Leroy R., 1848. 

Tallmadge, Samuel S., 1845, 6, 
7. 



1 The office of inspector of common schools was created In 1812, and from three to six in- 
spectors were annually thereafter elected until 184'1. They were invested with powers similar to 
those of commissioners, the duties of examining teacliers and visiting schools, devolving espe- 
cially upon them. In 1828, the number of inspectors was reduced to three by act of legislature. 



CIVIL LIST. 



71 



ASSESSORS. 



Babcock, Phineas, 1778, 85. 
Barber, Hiram, 1826, 8. 
Bartow, Elijah, 1795, 6, 7. 
Beadlestone, Charles, 1833,40. 
Beadlestone, Job, 1822, 3, 4, 5, 

6, 7, 8, 9, 30, 1, 2, 8. 
Beadlestone, Stephen, 1805, 6, 

7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. 
Benedict, Ezra, 1859. 
Bennett, David, 1783. 
Briggs, Walter, 1798, 9, 1800, 1, 

2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. 
Briggs, William, 1862. 
Brown, Asa, 1794, 5. 
Brown, Benedick, 1775. 
Brown, Daniel, 1«41, 2, 3. 
Brown, George, 1851. 
Bush, Henry, 1873. 
Carpenter, Stevens, 1872. 
Codner, Henry, 1841, 2, 3, 6. 
Cornell, Benjamin, 1796, 7, 1800, 

1,3. 
Cornwell, Edward, 1815, 19. 
Cowper, Jeffrey, (a) 1766. 



Dean, David M., 1830, 1, 2, 5, 6, 

7,43. 
Dickinson, Thomas, 1799. 
Dixon, Alanson, 1848, 54, 7, 60. 
Eddy, John, 1790, 2, 4. 
Ellis, Enoch, 1856. 
Fairchild, Samuel, 1787. 
Faxon, Walter A., 1869. 
Ferguson. Henry, 1834, 40, 1, 2, 

50, 65. 
Ferriss, James, 1795, 6. 
Ferriss, Warren, 1790, 1, 3. 
Folger, Elisha, 1788, 91. 
Fonda, William A., 1864. 
Fuller, Ebenezer, 1778, 9, 80. 
Gardner, Dilwin,1813, 16, 20,1, 

2. 
Graves, John, 1779. 
Green, Amos, 1820, 1. 
Griffin, Bartholomew, 1838. 
Griffin, Jonathan, 1814. 
Gurnet, Joseph H., 1835, 6, 7, 9, 

44. 
Hapburn, Joseph, 1789. 



(a) Previous to the issue of the Queensbury patent, this person had occupied 
temporarily the Block House at the Half-way brook. In regard to him Sir Jeffrey 
Amherst, in a letter to a Mr. Sharpe, dated New York, 20th October, 1762, writes 
as follows : 

" The permit to Jeffrey Cooper to occupy the small Post at Half-way brook 
between Fort Edward and Lake George, was only intended for the preservation 
of the barricks, etc., that had been erected there, and for the conveniency of Pas- 
sengers, as I judged it unnecessary after the reduction of Canada, to leave a Gar- 
rison at that Post." 

It would seem that Cowper was a seafaring man, for in the Calendar of English 
Manuscripts, in the Secretary of States' olEce, p. 657, is filed a petition by " Ephraim 
Cook, owner of the Snow Cicero, 34 guns," in which he applies " for a commission, 
and in case of his death, to his first lieutenant, Richard Harris, and Jeffrey Cowper, 
his second lieutenant to command said Snow Cicero." 

This Cowper (as the name is also spelled in the town records), was, probably, a 
dependent of Lord Amherst, and without doubt the first bond fide white inhabitant 
of the town. His name only appears iu the town recoi-ds for the year 1766. 

In Abraham's Wing's account book he stands charged with 

S 140 lbs. of pork. 
( 7 " " nails. 



April, 1765. 



72 



HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 



Harris, Asa, 1794. Hitchcock, John, 1812. 

Harris, Morris, 1844, 5. Jenkins, Palmer B., 1834. 

Haviland, John G., 1845, 6. Jones, Daniel, (b) 1772, 4. 

Hicks, Jacob, 1771. Kenyon, John, 1804. 

HiQsoN, James, (a) 1777, 80, 3, 4, Kimberley, Israel, 1813, 16, 17, 
9, 2, 3, 7, 1800. 18. 



(a) On the 18tli of January, 1777, James Higson at Queensbury advertises that 
he has taken it on himself to act as the " executor to the estate of Jacob Hix, de- 




^>U^»-^^(/ 




{7-^^^, 



ceased, in place of Ichabod Merritt." It is presumed from this, and other circum- 
stances that he had married a year or two previously, and perhaps longer, Content, 
the daughter of Abraham Wing, and the widow of said Hicks, who had died about 
the year 1774. Higson was taken prisoner together with Andrew Lewis, his 
brother-in-law, and William Robards, while hunting strayed cattle or horses near 
the Blind rock at the time of Carleton's raid, in 1780. Another version of the afiair 
states that they were preparing to go a fishing near East creek, on Lake George, 
one of the number being engaged in chopping ; the noise of which attracted the 
enemy, and they were surprised and captured. They were all taken to X^anada, 
and after running the gauntlet, were rescued from the savages, and confined in 
prison, Robards afterward escaped. The other two remained until the close of the 
war, being provided for to some extent, and probably kindly treated through the 
influence of some of their kinsmen who were refugees in Canada at that time. 
After his return Higson built upon and occupied the land known as the Rosa farm 
now owned by Mr. Bentley, about one mile north of the village on the Ridge road. 
On the authority of the late Mr. McDonald, Higson's wife was an intimate friend 
and confidant of Jane McCrea, they often exchanged visits, and after the atrocious 
massacre, the Indians exhibited Jenny's scalp, with its long tresses of golden hair, 
at her father's house near the lower freight house, back of the McDonald mansion. 
Higson had three children, two daughters and a son John. The latter removed 
west. From Betsey, the second child, are descended the Burnhams of this village. 
Judge Hay informed me that he remembered the Hiosons well. They both used 
the Quaker dialect, and " aunt Tenty," as he called her, was a very chatty, agreea- 
ble person. Higson I think was of Scotch extraction. 




^^m£^- 



(J) Was a brother of the David Jones, so famous in American history as the be- 
trothed lover of the hapless Jane McCrea. The Jones family ' consisted of a 

' Tide Wilson's Life of Jane MeOrea, pp. 16, 17. 



CIVIL LIST. 73 

Lapham, Stephen, 1787, 8, 9. Newman, Orange, 1852. 

Leavins, Hezekiah, 1817. Palmeter, James, 1823, 4, 5. 

Lewis, Andrew, 1780. Peck, Bethuel, 1829. 

Mallory, John, 1814. Peck, Reuben, 1808. 

Martin, Henry, 1785, 6, 7. Philo, Nathaniel, 1829. 

McGrEE, David, 1814, 15. Pitcher, Alfred, 1822, 3, 4, 5, 7^ 
Merritt, Ichabod, (a) 1766, 8, 9, 31. 

70. Pitcher, Jonathan, 1786. 

Mills, Daniel Jr., 1786. Platt, Elmore, 1838, 9, 46. 

Morgan, Alonzo W., 1827, 8, 30, Putnam, Asaph, 1767. 

2, 3, 44, 5, 53. Ripley, James, 1835, 6, 7. 

Morgan, Reuben, 1810, 11. Robards, William, 1783, 4, 5. 



widow and six sons, viz. : Jonathan, John, Dunham, Daniel, David and Solomon. 
They removed from Leamington, New Jersey, where they had been neighbors and 
friends of the McCreas, and settled in Kingsbury, where, in the vicinity of Moss 
street, Daniel shortly obtained, by purchase of the patentees, a large tract of land. 
The family homestead was near the north-west corner of the Kingsbury patent. 

Daniel was one of the earliest settlers in Queensbury, and to his enterprise and 
energy in great degree are attributable the early development of its water power 
and resources. Records and conveyances still exist to show that he was interested 
in the first saw mill and grist mill ever built at Glen's Falls. They stood on the 
site of the race way and marble mill just above the bridge. He married Deborah, 
sixth child of Abraham and Anstis (Wood) Wing. She was born the 6th of 7th 
month, 1750. Among other property that he owned here was the islands in the 
river, which he bought of the Jessups of Luzerne, and which were afterwards 
conveyed to Abraham Wing. One of these bears to this day the name of Wing's 
island. At the outbreak of the Revolution he adhered to the royal cause, and 
with other loyalists fled to Canada. One of his brothers, besides David, held a 
commission in Jessup's loyalist's battalion in Burgoyne's army. His lands here, 
which were not previously disposed of, were condemned by the commission of for- 
feiture, confiscated and sold after the war. At the time of Carleton's invasion in 
1780 his house was burned by the invaders. In a letter contained among the manu- 
scripts so often referred to, he feelingly communicates to his father-in-law, the 
tidings of his wife's death, in childbed, in Montreal 28th March, 1782, the infant 
dying about four months after. Subsequent to the war he settled at Brockville, 
Upper Canada, where he received from the Crown, a large grant of land in com- 
pensation for his losses here, and where his descendants still reside, being people 
of consideration and influence. During the war, about the year 1781, his son 
Richard was arrested and imprisoned at Albany as a loyalist and tory. Through 
Abraham Wing's intercession and influence he was liberated. 

Within the memory of many living, the heirs at law made an effort to recover 
from the state, the value of the confiscated lands, but were not successful. 

(a) The three eldest daughters of Abraham Wing married three brothers, sons 
of Nehemiah Merritt of the Oblong, Dutchess county, N. T., namely, Nehemiah, 
Daniel and Ichabod. The first two of these never removed to Queensbury. Icha- 
bod, with his wife Sarah, did, and we find his name among the list of town oflacers 
for the year 1766. 

Their oldest child, Joseph, was the first child of white parents born in this town. 
The family record places the date of his birth 17th of 12th month, 1766. From 
10 



74 



HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 



Egberts, William Jr., 1802, 3, 

12. 
Sanpord, David, 1805, 6, 7, 10, 

11. 
Sanford, Elnathan, 1808, 9. 
Scott, DanielD., 1816, 17, 19, 20. 
Seelte, Nehemiah, 1772, 3, 5, 6, 

7, 8, 9. 
Seelye, Keuben, 1813, 14, 18, 21. 
Seelye, Keuben, 1861, 4, 7, 70. 
SissoN, James, 1847. 
Spencer, Henry, 1809. 
Sprague Ebenezer, 1790. 
Tearse, Peter B., 1798. 
Thomas, Israel, 1792, 3. 



Van Deuzen, Abraham, 1840. 
Van Heusen, Jacob P., 1871. 
Van Heusen, Volkert P., 1868. 
Vaughn, Stephen, 1855, 8. 
Vernor, John, 1798, 9, 1800, 1, 2. 
WnfppLE, Archibald P., 1863, 6. 
Williams, David, 1833, 4. 
Winchip, Ansel, 1826, 39, 49. 
Winchip, Joel, 1798, 9, 1804. 
Wing, Abraham, 1767, 8. 
Wing, Benjamin, 1769, 70, 1, 8, 

4, 6, 84, 8, 9, 91. 
Wing, Nehemiah, 1815. 
Wing, William, 1818, 19. 



OVERSEERS OF THE POOR. 



Beadlestone, Job, 1814, 15. 
Benedict, Ezra, 1851, 2. 
Bentley, Stephen, 1871, 2. 
Blood, Sewell, 1839. 
Boyd, Rufus, 1864. 



Cronkhite, George, 1854, 5, 8, 9, 

60. 
Curtis, Enos, 1805, 
Dean, David M,, 1844, 5, 6, 7. 
Eddy, John, 1793. 



Brown, Benedict, 1773, 4, 9, 83, Folger, Elisha, 1788, 9, 90, 1, 2. 

4, 5. Green, Amos, 1829. 

Brown, Daniel, 1830, 1, 2, 50, 1, Griffin. Seneca, 1884. 

2, 3 4, 62. Harris, Moses Jr., 1808. 

Brown, Silas, 1802, 3, 4. Haviland, Daniel S., 1848, 9. 

Coffin, Elisha, 1863, 4, 5. Haviland, Roger, 1813, 15, 17, 
Cornell, Benjamin, 1801, 2, 3, 18. 

4, 5. Herald, John, 1868, 9. 



him are descended the numerous families of Motts and Carys in thi% and the 
adjoining town of Moreau. From time to time he was chosen to fill various other 
offices in the town. He is said to have erected the first framed house in Queens- 
bury. It was situated on one of the sections in the town plot, near the Halfway 
brook, and it was burned during Burgoyne's advance together with the mills at 
the falls and several of the dwellings. They subsequently, and probably about 
the time of Burgoyne's advance, in the early part of the Revolutionary war, re- 
turned to Dutchess county. Joseph, who afterwards removed to Moreau, where 
he died 15th of 11th month, 1826, left the following provision in his will : 

" And I do will and order that my father, Ichabod Merritt, be 8U])ported by my 
executors out of my own estate ;" showing that his father then still survived. It 
is believed that he died in Dutchess county, although the author has no certain 
record of that event. 



CIVIL LIST. 75 

Hitchcock, Alfred F., 1856. Pixley, Lewis L., 1853. 

HuBBELL, Shadrach, 1794. Powell, Caleb, 1766. 

Jenkins, Palmer B., 1824, 5, 6, Richards, Edmund B., 1853. 

35, 6, 7, 8, 55. Robards, William, 1795, 6, 7. 

Jenkins, Simeon, 1809. Robinson, William, 1848, 9, 50. 

Jones, Daniel, 1771, 2. Sanford, David, 1806. 

Lapham, Stephen, 1793, 8, 9, Sanford, George, 1827, 8. 

1800, 1. Seelye, David, 1786, 7. 

Mahoney, Cornelius, 1873. Seelye, Julius F., 1870. 

Mallory, John, 1807, 8, 9, 10, 11, Seelye, Nehemiah, 1775, 6, 7, 8. 

12, 19, 20, 1. Seelye, Reuben, 1823. 

Merritt, Ichabod, 1767, 8, 9, 75, Simmons, Hiram, 1865. 

6. Spencer, Henry, 1824, 5. 

Moon, Robert, 1794, 5, 6. Tearse, Archibald C, 1863. 

Morgan, Alonzo W., 1826. Vaughn, James, 1807, 10, 11, 12, 

MosHER, Isaac, 1845, 6. 13, 16, 17. 

Odell, Jacob, 1818, 19, 20, 1, 2. Vaughn, Stephen, 1866, 7. 

Parsons, Elnathan, 1822, 7, 8, Washburn, Miles, 1786. 

9, 30. Winchip, Ansel, 1833, 47. 

Peck, Edmund, 1816. Winchip, Joel, 1840, 1, 2, 3, 4. 

Peck, Darius, 1857. Wing, Abraham, 1766, 7, 8, 9, 70, 

Peck, Hermon, 1837, 8, 9, 40, 1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 9, 80, 3, 4, 5, 92. 

2, 3. Wing, Benjamin, 1777, 8, 80, 97, 

Peck, Peter, 1788, 9, 90, 1. 8, 9, 1800, 6. 

Pettit, Micajah, 1814. Wing, Nehemiah, 1856, 7, 8, 9, 

Philo,' Henry, 1831, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 60, 1, 71. 

61, 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 70, 1, 2, 3. Wright, Job, 1770. 
^iTCHER, Jonathan, 1787. 



COMMISSIONERS OF HIGHWAYS.i 

Atherton, Archibald P., 1863, Bentley, Stephen, 1837, 1866, 7, 

4, 5. 8, 9, 70. 

Babcock, Phineas, 1784, 5, 6, 7. Brayton, William, 1845, 6. 

Bartow, Elijah, 1792, 3. Brown, Benedick, 1775, 6, 7, 9. 

Beadlestone, Henry Jr., 1803, 4, Brown, Daniel, 1833. 

5. Brown, Silas, 1783, 1804. 
Beadlestone, Stephen, 1802, 20. Brown, Valentine, 1790, 1. 
Bentley, John, 1873. Buckbee, Israel, 1835. 
Bentley, Richard, 1832, 4, 5. Burnham, Halsey, 1830, 1, 2. 



1 Uutil nai, the office of pathmaster included all the duties devolving upon the commisuioners 
of highways, and was so desigaated in the records. 



76 



HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 



Butler, Zachariah, (a) 1774. 
Chaimplin, David, 1836. 
CoDNER, Henry, 1835, 6. 
Coffin, John, 1848. 
Cornell, Benjamin, 1795. 
Darling, Gershom, 1790, 1. 
Dean, David M., 1834, 8, 51. 
Dunham, Elijah, 1814, 15. 
Fairchild, Asahel, 1833. 
Ferguson, Henry, 1839. 
Ferriss, John A., 1807, 23. 
Ferriss, Warren, 1795. 
Folger, Elisha, 1792, 7. 
Freeman, Jonathan W., 1838. 



Haviland, Roger, 1852, 3. 
Hay, Udney, 1789. 
Henderson, James, 1814. 
Hitchcock, John H., 1815. 
Hubbell, Dudley A., 1818, 19. 
HuBBELL, Frederic, 1825. 
Hubbell, Jonathan, 1786. 
Hubbell, Shadrach, 1793, 4. 
Jenkins, Jedediah, 1796, 7, 1800, 

1. 
Jenkins, Palmer B., 1821, 2, 30, 

1, 47, 8, 9. 
Johnson, William, 1777. 
Kendrick, Jabez, 1820. 
Kimberly, Israel, 1822. 



Fuller, Ebenezer, 1778. 

GrOODSPEED, STEPHEN, 1845, 6, 7, KiNGSLEY, JoHN, 1872. 

8. Kipp, RuLiFP, 1842, 1872. 

Green, Amos, 1827, 8. Lapham, Stephen, 1798, 9. 

Griffin, Bartholomew, 1827, 9, Locke, Ira, 1849, 50. 

39. Merritt, Ichabod, 1769. 

Griffin, Isaac B., 1837. Miller, John J., 1849, 50, 1 

GuRNEY, Joseph, 1843. Morgan, Alonzo W., 1843. 

GuRNEY, William B., 1858, 9, 60, Morgan, Reuben, 1800, 1. 



4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 70. 
Harris, Brayton, 1857, 8, 9. 
Harris, Daniel, 1810, 11. 
Harris, Eliphalet, 1860, 1, 2. 
Harris, John B., 1840, 1. 
Harris, Morris, 1843. 
Harris, Moses, 1818, 26. 



/ 



Mosher, Isaac, 1823, 4, 5, 44. 
Odell, Austin, 1795. 
Palmer, Tim M., 1821, 2, 4. 
Palmeter, James, 1827, 8, 30, 1, 

2. 
Peck, Hermon, 1829. 
Pitcher, Alfred, 1814, 20, 1. 



Harris, Moses Jr., 1806, 7, 8, 9. ' Pitt, Levi, 1794. 
Haviland, Daniel S., 1850, 1, 2. Platt, Elmore, 1833, 4, 40. 
Haviland, Joseph, 1840, 56, 7, 8. Putnam, Benajah, 1766, 7. 



(a) From whom Butler brook, is understood to have derived its name. This 
is a small affluent of the Half-way brook, made up of three small streams which 
have their origin in the swamps and swales west of the village. It was at the 
upper branch, still- a much resorted to watering place, just north of the Warren 
county fair grounds, where General Washington with his staff stopped to drink, 
while on his way to Crown Point in 1783. Walter Briggs, who was at work in 
an adjoining field, was hailed by the party, and he brought his pail and tin cup, 
and dipped up water for the entire party. In the Washington correspondence are 
several allusions to this journey. . Butler is represented as having lived near the 
Knox place on the Bay road. Being a tory, at the outbreak of the Revolution, he 
secreted his effects, burying some of them in the cellar, and fled to Canada. At 
the time of Carleton's raid in 1780, the house was burned. Butler never returned. 



CIVIL LIST. 77 

KiCHARDS, Edmund B., 1837. Wells, James, 1841, 

Ripley, Asa, 1817. Wells, Joel, 1853, 4, 5. 

Ripley, Doctor, 1819. Winchip, Ansel, 1828, 9. 

RoBARDS, William, 1784, 5, 6, 7, Winchip, Joel, 1796, 1802, 3, 5, 

8,9,90, 1,8, 9. 6,7,8,9, 12, 13,44. 

Rogers, Jeremiah, 1816, 17. Winchip, Ransom J., 1859, 60, 1, 

Sanpord, Goold, 1826. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. 

Seelyb, Reuben, 1810, 11, 12, 13, WiNa, Abraham, 1772, 3, 6, 80,4, 

14, 16, 17. 5, 8. 

Seelye, Reuben Jr., 1836. Wing, Benjamin, 1768, 71, 5, 83, 

Selleck, Jonas, 1854, 5, 6. 7, 8, 9, 92, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9. 

Sherman, Burden, 1838, 9. Wing, Benjamin Jr., 1818, 19. 

Spencer, Henry, 1804, 5, 6, 8, 10, Wing, Joseph, 1802, 9. 

11, 16. Wing, Nehemiah, 1812, 13. 

Staples, Anson R., 1868,9, 70, 1. Wing, Richard, 1844, 5, 6, 7, 8, 

Sweet, Dodge, 1841, 2. 52, 3, 4. 

Thomas, Seth, 1823, 4, 5, 6. Wing, William, 1815. 

TiBBiTS, Benjamin, 1800, 1, 3. Wood, John, 1842. 

Vanduzen, John R., 1861, 2, 3. Wright, Job, 1770. 
Wells, Hiram, 1855, 6, 7. 

FORESTERS.i 

Brown, Silas, 1775. Seelye, Nehemiah, 1775, 6. 

Putnam, Asaph, 1776. Wing, Abraham, 1775, 6. 

COLLECTORS. 

Allen, King, 1833, 4, 51. Carpenter, John S., 1855, 

Allen, Warren, 18f 8. Carswell, John, 1785. 

Atherton, Archibald P., 1867, Coffin, John P., 1844. 

Babcock, Phineas, 1777, 8. Coffin, Sanpord, 1850. 

Bailey, Joseph, 1790. "ForJes- Comstock, Samuel, 1863. 

sup's Patent," Corbett. John, 1872, 3, 

Bitley, Melville, 1859, 60, 1, 2, Cornell, Benjamin, 1798, 9. 

6, 9, 70. Crossett, William, 1846, 7. 

Briggs, William, 1854. Eddy, John, 1788, 90, 1, 

Brown, Daniel V , 1848, 9. Ellis, Enoch, 1831, 

Brown, Daniel V., 1868, 71. Ferris, Alfred, 1815, 16, 17, 18, 
Brown, Silas, 1775, 80. 19, 20, 1. ' - 

' ^\}^9 regular town meetings of 1775 and 6, it was voted "that any person or persons who 
sliall narbor or entertain or assist any person or persona from any county to hunt or kill any lawn 
buck, or doe, in Queensbury, in ye year ensuing shall forfeit and pay to the town treasurer the 
sum ot five pounds for the youce of the poor." 

It \yas further voted that the above named persons be appointed " to inspect persons that shall 
hunt the deer m Queensbury for the year ensuing." 



78 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OP QUEEtTSBURY. 

Ferriss, James, 1792. Odell, Nathaniel, 1800. 
Fuller, Ebenezer, 1774, 9, 88, 9. Piersons, Arzel, 1810, 11, 12. 

GrAYGER, WiLLIAM H., 1857. PiTCHER, BeNJAMIN, 1797. 

Green, Archibald C, 1841. Pitts, Levi, 1795. 

Green, Ira, 1838, 9, 40. Ramsay, George B., 1856. 

Harris, Asa, 1793, 4. Ranger, Samuel, 1832. 

Hawley, Martin F., 1837. Ripley, Asa Jr., 1813. 

Hendryx, Benjamin, 1801, 2. Sanford, Elnathan, 1804, 5, 6, 
Hicks, Jacob, 1772. 7, 8, 9. 

HuBBELL, IcHABOD, 1796. Seelye, Nehemiah, 1783, 4. 

Jenkins, Ransom, 1830. Smith, Walter Jr., 1852, 3. 

JuDD, Denman C, 1842, 3. Spencer, Henry Jr., 1836. 

Martin, Henry, 1787. Tillotson, George J., 1864. 
Merritt, Ichabod, 1766, 7, 8, 9, Tripp, Thomas, 1786. 

71, 3. Willard, George, 1865 

Moon, Solomon, 1791, 2, 3. Wing, Abraham Jr., (a) 1814. 

Mosher, Isaac Jr., 1845. Wing, Benjamin, 1770, 6. 

Odell, Augustine M., 1835. White, James, 1822, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 
Odell, Benajah, 1803. 8, 9. 



(a) Abraham Wing was the youngest of seven children, and was bom in this 
village on the 17th of August, 1791. 

His mother, Polly McKie, was nearly related to the family of that name in the 
eastern part of Washington county. His father, Abram, was the youngest son of 
Abraham Wing the pioneer, a sketch of whose career is given elsewhere. The 
settlement, which in the slow process of years has expanded to the proportions 
of a large and populous village, was originally known by the name of Wing's Falls, 
a name which has a better claim to our speech than the one it bears. 

With such scant facilities as the sparsely settled country then aflforded, Mr. 
Wing succeeded in acquiring the elements of a sound business education, which 
served him through a long and busy life in the management of a vast and com- 
plicated business, and the widely extended relations of a large and continually in- 
creasing estate. 

Among his first ventures was a co-partnership with the late Josiah L. Arms, 
in the mercantile business at Emerson's Corners in the town of Wilton, Saratoga 
county New York. He was afterwards, at various times and for a series of years, 
associated in different business enterprises with the leading men of the place ; such 
names as Walter Qeer jr., George Sanford, William McDonald, and others gone 
before, but whose thrift, enterprise, and energy have left their impress upon our 
local affairs and contributed largely to the growth and prosperity of our village. 
With the opening up of the Northern canal, and the construction of the Glen's 
Falls feeder, a rare opportunity presented for utilizing the resources of the neigh- 
borhood and county. Mr. Wing had the forecast and judgment requisite for 
improving the golden chance, by bringing to market the splendid pines with 
which the great Brant lake tract abounded. This rich and extensive lumber 
region, previously oi)erated by the Fox brothers, Alanson and Norman, had come 
into the possession of parties in Troy, who in casting about for some one to man- 
age the business were referred to Mr. Wing as the most suitable and competent 
person in all this region, for the undertaking. To his sagacity and clear sighted 




^■^ 



CIVIL LIST. 79 



CONSTABLES. 



Allen, Avert, 1861, 4, 7, 8, 9, Brown, Charles L., 1835. 

70, 1, 2, 3. Brown, Isaac, 1840. 

Allen, King, 1831, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, Brown, Isaac S., 1837, 42. 

44, 50, 1, 2. Brown, Stewart, 1849. 

Allen, Warren, 1858, 1871, 2, 3. Buck, David, 1773, 83, 5, 92. 

Atherton, Archibald P., 1867,8. Camp, Gardiner M., 1843. 

Baldwin, Amos, 1798. Carpenter, John S., 1855. 

Bates, Ebenezer, 1815, 16. Garswell, John, 1785. 

Bentley, Stephen, 1832. Caswell, James, 1795. 

Bitlet, Melville, 1859, 60, 1, 2, Champlain, John M., 1856, 7. 

3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 70. Chapman, Alvin, 1860. 

Bishop, Linus, 1826. Clark, Ansel, 1817, 18, 19, 20, 1. 

Brayman, Martin S., 1873. Comstock, Samuel, 1863. 

Briggs, Jabez, 1865, 6, 7, 8, 70, 1. Conery, Solomon, 1844. 

Briggs, William, 1854. Cook, Samuel, 1784. 

Brown, Charles, 1855. Corliss, Christopher C, 1850. 



judgment do we owe the present system of river-driving and booming which 
annually replenishes our mills, furnishes employment to a vast array of labor, 
and which has substantially helped in buildinor up our village to its present urban 
proportions. When he first took hold of the Brant lake property, the cry here 
was that the lumbering business was finished. 

The plains of Queensbury, to the foot of the West mountain, had been stripped 
and denuded of the towering white, and majestic yellow pines which once 
stretched their massive boles in rich profusion from the Pitcher place tathe 
Round pound of the Oneida. The magnificent water power of our falls was 
looked upon as next to worthless, and certainh' not warranting the outlay re- 
quired in the erection of such costly mills as now adorn our water front. No one 
dreamed that the forest of the far northern wilderness would ever become tribu- 
tary to our industries. No sooner, however, had Mr. Wing taken hold of this 
enterprise, than a new impulse was given to the whole lumbering business of the 
Hudson river and its affluents. The obstructions in the outlet of Brant lake 
were removed, a dam and sluice way were constructed and a new field of labor was 
inaugurated. The novel sight was witnessed of sluicing and driving the pine 
logs of that wilderness region, and its wealth has been poured down the breast 
of the majestic Hudson, building up colossal fortunes and giving impetus and 
vitality to a thousand ceaseless industries. From a trusted business agent, Mr. 
Wing speedily became a partner, and ultimately sole proprietor of this and other 
large lumber interests. About the year 1853, he disposed of his business and 
retired from the more active pursuits of life. He was then accounted one of the 
wealthiest men in the vicinity. From that period up to the date of his decease 
his time was principally devoted to the management of his large estate. 

Mr. Wing was a life long democrat, an earnest and euergertic politician. In 
the days of his active manhood he exerted a coutrolliag influence in his party, 
both in town and county ; and although no office seeker himself, those who 



80 



HISTORY OP THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 



CoRBETT, John, 1872, 3. 
Cornell, Benjamin, 1798, 9. 
Covey, Amos, 1833. 
Crossett, William, 1844, 5, 6, 7, 

54. 
Cunningham, Royal A., 1819. 
Darby, Joseph, 1857, 8. 
Derby, Archibald H., 1840, 1, 2, 
DiNGMAN, J. H., 1868. 
Doty, Isaac, 1784, 
DuNwicK, Isaac, 1847. 
DuRREEN, Alden, 1866, 7, 71, 2. 
Eastwood, Martin, 1817, 18. 
Eddy, John, 1788, 9. 
Ellis, Enoch, 1831, 2, 8. 
Ellis, Zabina, 1847. 
Elms, Clinton, 1857. 
Ferriss, Alfred. 1803, 15, 16, 17, 

18, 19, 20, 1. 
Fisher, Sidney B., 1869, 70. 



Fuller, Ebenezer, 1775, 6, 88, 9, 
Fuller, Nathaniel, 1779. 
Graves, John, 1778. 
Green, Hazard, 1839, 42. 
Green, Ira, 1838, 9, 40. 
GuRNEY, William B., 1853. 
Harris, Asa, 1793, 4. 
Harris, Henry Jr., 1839. 
Hawley, Martin F., 1837. 
Hendryx, Benjamin, 1801, 2, 14. 
HiGsoN, James, 1777, 8, 80. 
Howard, Horace, 1831, 6, 7, 8, 

47, 9, 53. 
Howe, Appleton, 1854. 
Howe, Clark, 1857. 
Hubbell, Ichabod, 1796, 7. 
Jenkins, Dewitt C, 1871, 2. 
Jenks, Lyman, 1825, 6, 7, 8, 9. 
Jones, Daniel, 1773, 6. 
Jones, James, 1784. 



were, generally took the precaution to ensure his kind offices, and powerful in- 
fluence in order to achieve their aims. 

Like most self made men, Mr. Wing's character had its rugged sides and 
salient points. He was a strong, earnest, untiring friend, a bitter, uncompromis- 
ing and unyielding opponent ; opinionated, self-reliant, and self-willed. Public 
spirited and liberal, every church in the village received his benefaction, every 
public enterprise his handsome contribution. At the outbreak of the rebellion 
he was among the heaviest subscribers to the relief fund for the benefit of the 
wives and children of the soldiers, and contributed all along in various ways 
towards the raising of recruits and bounties, in order that his native town might 
maintain its credit in the great struggle for the preservation of the Union. He 
was married three times. His first wife was Abigail Barnard of Townsend, Vt. 
His second was Augeline B. (Vail) widow of Alexander Robertson of New York. 
His third Mrs. Frances A. Glass, {nee Bowman). He had no issue except by bis 
first wife. Two children only reached adult age, both daughters and both mar- 
ried. He was for years subject to painful and frequently recurring attacks of ill- 
ness, resisted by a powerful and well preserved constitution, until at last, like 
a strongly rooted oak, exposed to tlie storms of years, he fell, and the places which 
knew him on earth shall know him no more. He died at his own home on the 
morning of the 13th of June, 1873. His deeds of generosity and kindness have 
embalmed his name in the memory of many still living, and in this hard and 
trying winter of 1874, there are poor, and destitute, and suffering families, who 
will miss the kind charities of 



^^'-^^^^^->--^t/^^2^^ ^^^^ 




CIVIL LIST. 



81 



JuDD, Denman C, 1843. 
Kenworthy, John L., 1841. 
Knapp, Benjamin R., 1820. 
Knapp, Reuben W., 1852. 
Lamorie, John, 1873. 
Layton, Isaac L., 1848. 
Lewis, Andrew, (a) 1775, 80. 
Lewis, Robert, 1819, 20. 
McAuLEY, Hugh, 1786, 7, 8, 9, 90.^ 
Martin, Henry, 1786, 7. 
Matttocks, John, 1802, 4, 5, 6, 7. 
Mayo, Joseph, 1815. 
Mills, Calvin, 1831. 
Moon, Solomon, 1791, 2. 
Mosher, Charles, 1869, 70, 1. 
MosHER, Isaac, 1858, 9, 60, 1. 
Mosher, Isaac Jr., 1841, 2, 3, 4, 

5, 6, 8, 9, 50, 1. 
Nelson, Asaph, 1834. 
€Jdell, Augustin M., 1833, 4, 5. 
Odell, Benajah, 1802, 3. 
Odell, Nathaniel, 1800, 1. 
Orton, Thomas, 1786, 7, 90, 1, 2, 

4. 
Parsons, Andrew, 1810, 11, 12, 

13. 
Parsons, Arzel, 1808, 9, 10, 11, 

12, 13. 
Peck, Daniel, 1799, 1800. 
Peirson, Eli C, 1827, 8, 30. 



Pettys, Nathan, 1807, 8, 9, 10, 

11, 12. 
Pettys, Oliver, 1799, 1800, 1. 
Pitcher, Benjamin, 1797, 8. 
Pitcher, Jonathan, 1785. 
*ITCHER, Jonathan Jr., 1793, 4, 

5,6. 

Pitts, Levi, 1795. 
Putnam, Asaph, 1766, 7, 8, 9, 70, 

12 4 6 7 
Ramsay, George B., 1856. 
Ranger, Samuel, 1821, 2, 3, 4, 5. 
Rice, Eliakim, 1817. 
Ripley, Asa Jr., 1810, 11, 12, 13, 

14, 18. 
Ripley, Doctor, 1823, 4. 
RoBARDS, William, 1783. 
RoBARDS, William Jr., 1797, 8. 
Sanpord, Elnathan, 1804, 5, 6, 

7, 8, 9. 
ScoFiELD, Willett, 1848, 9. 
Seelye, Julius F., 1866. 
Seelye, Nehemiah, 1776. 
Sewall, Rensselaer, 1859, 60, 1, 

2, 71. 
Sheldon, Elias H., 1869. 
Sheldon, Uriah, 1822. 
Simpson, Peter, 1816, 17. 
Smith, Walter Jr., 1852, 3, 5, 6. 
Spencer, Henry Jr., 1836. 



{a) Andrew IjEWIS was one of the numerous sons-in-law of Abraham Wing the 
founder of Queeusbury. He migrated hither from New Milford, Conn., and was 
married to Mary, the youngest child of the family, some time anterior to the 
Revolution. 

At the time of the Parks massacre, he was a resident of the island at the falls, 
then belonging to Abraham Wing and known as Wing's island. He would pro- 
bably have been made a prisoner at that time if there had been any boats available 
for the purpose. Those who tried to reach him by wauing, were deterred from 
near approach by his rifle. He was twice made a prisoner during the Revolu- 
tionary war, andt aken to Canada the first time, as elsewhere narrated, being one 
of a fishing party at the head of the lake at the time of the capture of Fort Anne, 
during Burgoyne's campaign ; and the second time, at the period of Carleton's 
invasion, in 1781. The last time he remained until after the close of the war, 
receiving loans and assistance, as appears by the Wing pajiers, from Daniel Jones, 
and other refugee loyalists. Numerous descendants of this stock are still residing 
in the neighborhood of Glen's Falls. 
11 



82 



HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 



Spencer, Henry 2d, 1815, 16, 17. 
Spencer, John Gr., 1830. 
Steele, Lewis S., 1845, 6. 
Sturdevant, Levi, 1854. 
TiBBiTTS, Benjamin, 1803, 4, 5, 6. 
TiLLOTSoN, George J., 1864. 
Tripp, Thomas, 1786, 7. 
Vanduzen, Halsey, 1856. 
Vanduzen, John, 1824, 5, 6, 7, 8, 

9, 30, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 40, 1, 

3, 5, 6, 8. 
Vanduzen, John Jr., 1822, 3. 
Vantassel, Hermon D., 1829. 
Van Voorhees, William, 1862, 3. 
Vaughn, Wellington, 1862, 3, 4, 

5. 



Varney, Harvey, 1855, 7, 8, 9. 
Walker, David, 1850, 1. 
West, Platt, 1851. 
White, James, 1821, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 

7, 8, 9, 30. 
White, William, 1790, 1. 
Whitney, George S., 1856. 
Willard, George, 1865. 
WiLMARTH, Martin L., 1853. 
Winchip, Alvin, 1852. 
Wing, Abraham Jr., 1779. 
Wing, Abraham Jr., 1813, 14. 
Wing, Daniel W., (a) 1801, 2, 4. 
Wing, Joseph, 1794, 5, 6, 7. 
Wing, William, 1803, 4, 5, 6, 7, 

8,9. 



{a) Daniel Wood Wing (named after the father of his paternal grandmother) 
was the second child of Abraham Jr., and Polly (McKie) Wing, and was born on 




\^//P^f^~ 



the 25th of July, 1780, at the paternal homestead, a log building which stood a 
few rods east of the rail road crossing, at the rear of the old McDonald mansion 
on Warren street in this village. In October, 1781, " the year of the burning," 
as it was afterwards called in fireside story, while he was still a tender babe in 
his mother's arms, she fled at the ai)proach of Carleton's marauding expedition 
and took refuge in the friendly recesses of the big Cedar swamp, that still bor- 
ders, with its dense undergrowth and tangle of luxuriant vegetation, the eastern 
boundaries of the village. The night following, she laid concealed near the 
spring at the foot of Sandy Hill. It is said of her that she emigrated to this 
country, when she was but seventeen years of age. She was a woman, if all ac- 
counts be true, of fine presence, and rare personal attractions ; of undoubted 
courage and heroism, well adapted to the rude times, and rough border scenes of 
danger and peril in which she lived. It is stated that in the early days of the 
settlement, while living in the old log tavern on the site of Kenworthy's hard- 
ware and variety store, she killed a large rattle snake, which she found coiled by 
a spring of water, still in existence under Vermillia's market, and whither she had 
gone for her daily supply.' The rocks and ledges by the rivtsr banks, and the 
numerous swamps and swales of the neighborhood, aflbrded shelter and refuge 
in those days to vast numbers of rattle snakes, and their extermination is believed 



' " ThiB inland (Diamond, in Lake Gcoige), as well as the one that is close to it, formerly wae 
80 overrun with rattle nnakcs, that persons, when they passed the lake, seldom or ever ventured 
on them A batteaux in sailing up it, went near Diamond island, and among other things it 
contained several hogs which swum to the shore (the boat having capsized) as did the Cana- 



CIVIL LIST. 83 

GAME CONSTABLES. 

CoNKEY, GrEORGE W., 1873. Jenkins, Dewitt C, 1872. 

FENCE VIEWERS AND APPRAISERS OF DAMAGE.i 

Babcock, Phineas, 1767, 70, 84, Brownson, Samuel, 1769. 

5. Butler, Truelove, (a) 1771. 

Bennett, David, 1783. Cornell, Benjamin, 1802. 

Briggs, Jeremiah, 1783. Daly, Pardon, 1780. 

Brown, Silas, 1779, 92, 3, 5, 6, 7, Folger, Elisha, 1790, 1, 1805. 

8, 9, 1800, 1, 2, 3, 4. Fuller, Ebenezer, 1772. 



to be due chiefly to tlie active agency of swine running at large rather than 
any other cause. 

In his youth, there was a private school kept in the settlement by one Seba 
Bement, a Quaker, to whom Daniel W., as well as the other children of the family 
was doubtless indebted for whatever elementary education he may have had. 
In 1803, the town records show that he was keeping tavern in a building which 
stood on the site of D. H. Cowles & Co.'s, store at the junction of Ridge and 
Warren streets, where from various existing memoranda, it is presumed that he 
carried on a mixed business of merchandising and hotel keeping for a number of 
years. 

According to the family record he was living at Sandy Hill in 1809, where he 
kept a tavern in a building whose site is now covered by the Middleworth House, 
where he continued until the year 1814, when the town records show him to be 
again a resident of the town of Queensbury, He must very shortly after have 
removed to Fort Edward, where he located and resided for a number of years in the 
lower part of the village, near the place now occupied by S. R. Durkee. Here 
he embarked in the mercantile and lumbering business and amassed a large 
fortune. He was a man of excellent sense and judgment, perservering, ener- 
getic, and tenacious of purpose. He was for many years considered the leading 
man of the place with which his fortunes were indentified. He married first, 
on the 25th of July, 1803, Rhoda Stewart of Kingsbury. She died 8th Feb., 1823 ; 
second, Almira Higby (still living), Aug. 18th, 1825. He died in the communion 
of the Episcopal church, 25th of May, 1856. 

(a) The only information the author has succeeded in obtaining in regard to this 



dians, who were rowing it up : the latter, in apprehension of the rattle snakes, climbed up trees 
for the night, and the next morning observing a batteanx, they hailed the people in it, who took 
them in and convej'ed them to Port Georoje. 

Sometime after, the man who owned tae hogs being unwilling to lose them, returned down 
the lake, and with some comrades ventured a search. After traversing the island a considerable 
time, they at last found them, but so prodigiously fat, that they could scarcely move, and in their 
Bearch only met with one rattle snake, which greatly surprised them, as the island was reported 
to abound with them. Their wonder, however, was not of long duration, for, being short of pro- 
vissions, they killed one of the hogs, the stomach of which was filled with rattle snakes."— jlra- 
hurq's Travels, vol. 1, p. .387. 

' In 180(5 (and every year thereafter, until a change in the law rendered such action unneces- 
ary ) it was voted that the overseers of highways should be fence viewers and appraisers 
of damage in their respective districts. 



84 



HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 



Hendryx, Abraham, 1794, 5, 6. 
HiasoN, James, 1780. 
HuBBELL, Jonathan, 1779. 
Hull, Daniel, 1784, 5. 
Johnson, William, 1777. 
Lapham, Stephen, 1790, 1, 7. 8, 

9, ISOO, 1. 
Merritt, Ichabod, 1774, 5, 6. 
Pitcher, Jonathan, 1786, 7, 8, 9. 



Putn'Xm, Asaph, 1768, 9, 70, 1, 3, 

4,6,7. 
Seelye, Nehemiah, 1772, 3, 5, 8. 
Sweet, Benoni, 1788, 9. 
Thomas, Israel, 179:;i, 3, 4. 
Washburn, Miles, 1786, 7. 
W^inchip, Joel, 1803, 4, 5. 
Wing, Abraham, 1768. 
W^iNG, Benjamin, 1767, 78. 



Hicks, Jacob, (o) 1772. 



FIREMEN.' 

Merritt, Ichabod, 1772. 



personage, is derived from the following, whicti is a copy of a paper contained in 
the Wing Manuscripts. 

" Memorandum this Ninth day of November in the year 1769, that I Jemima 
Butler widow, formerly wife to John Butler Deceased formerly both of Beekman's 
Precinct in Dutchess County and Province of New York Did Put and bind By In- 
denture our Son Truelove Butler an Apprentice to Abraham Wing him faithfully 
to Serve During the time the Sd Indentures Specifyed which was about thirteen 
years and that time Being Expired ye Sd Apprentice is free and We the Said But- 
lers Did take and Receive an indenture of Abraham Wing, According to Custom 
and form obligating the Said Wing to Preform Sundry Duties and Preformances 
and Payments to our Sd Son, at the end of his Apprentice, which the Sd Abraham 
Wing has faithfully, honestly, and Compleatly fulfilled payed and don according 
to the Indenture, and our Satisfaction, and the Indentures which we had Being Not 
to be found and Lost, W^e the Subscribers Do By These Presents Acquit, Release and 
for Ever Discharge the Sd Abraham Wing from all agreements Promises Covenants 
and Payments in Sd Indenture Contained whatsoever. As Witness our hands the 
Day and Year above Written." 



Witnesses. 

John Smith Jr., 
Aaron Butteler, 
Reed Ferriss. 



her 

Jemima X Buttler, 
mark 

Truelove Buttler. 




eu^L 




(a) Was a son-in-law of Abraham Wing, having married, when she was at the 
tender age of fourteen, Content, the seventh child of Abraham and Anstis (Wood) 



' This office pecms to be analogons to the fire warden of the present day. The following ex- 
tract explain? the duties apixTtaining to this otflce. At a common council held at the City Hall 
in Albany, 2()th of October, 1(18(1, it was : 

" Ordered that ye fyrema^'t('rf> goe about and visite each res])ective house in ye city, to sec if 
there chimneys aiid fyrelleartll^^ be sullicient, and also that care be taken that ye ladders and fyre 
hooks be upon there "places and in reparc. all which is r<H-()mmi'nded to ye high constable Isak 
Verplank, forthwith to be put in execution." — MxinseWs Annals of Albany, vol. 2, p. 94. 



CIVIL LIST. 



85 



POUNDKEEPERS. 



Babcock, Phineas, 1768, 83, 4, 5, 

6,7. 
Brown, Daniel, 1838, 9, 40, 1, 2, 

3, 4, 5. 
Buck, David, 1788, 9^ 90, 1, 2, 3, 

4. 
BuELL, Horatio, 1815, 17. 
Butler, Truelove, 1766. 
CoDNER, Henry, 1830, 1, 2, 3. 
CoLSON, Joseph, 1839, 40. 
Cornell, John, 1835, 6, 7. 
Crossett, William, 1838, 40, 1, 

2, 3, 4, 7, 9, 50. 
Folger, Aaron, 1804, 5. 

FOLLINOSBY, NiNEAN, 1834. 

Fuller, Ebenezer, 1770. 
Harrison, Timothy S., 1848, 9, 

50. 
Henderson, James, 1815. 
HiGSON, John, 1816, 17, 18. 
HuBBELL, Shadrach, 1847, 8. 
Humphreys, John B., 1824, 5. 
Jenkins, Simeon, 1811. 
Jones, Daniel, 1771. 
Kelley, James F., 1834. 
Lapham, Stephen, 1800, 1. 



Matthews, John G., 1813, 14. 
Odell, Nathaniel, 1813, 14. 
Odell, Samuel, 1809, 10. 
Phetteplace, Asa, 1811. 
Ranger, Parsons, 1809, 10. 
Ripley, Asa, 1819, 20, 1, 2, 3, 4. 
RoBARDS, William, 1797, 8, 9. 
Robbins, Calvin, 1835, 6, 7. 
Roberts, William, 1802, 6, 7, 8. 
Sanpord, David, 1811. 
Sheldon, Nehemiah, 1833. 
Sickles, George G., 1832. 
Simpson, Peter, 1812. 
Skinner, Samuel G., 1812. 
Spencer, Henry, 1811. 
Storer, Ebenezer, 1826, 7, 8, 9, 

30, 1. 
Tibbitts, Benjamin, 1795. 
Underwood, Horace, 1842, 8, 4, 

5, 6. 
Wing, Abraham, 1769, 75, 6, 9. 
Wing, Abraham Jr., 1777, 8, 80. 
Wing, Benjamin, 1767, 72, 3, 4. 
Wing, Joseph, 1803 
West, William B., 1796. 
Witherell, Nathaniel, 1816. 



Wing. She was born the 11th of April, 1755. His name frequently occurs 
among the Wing manuscripts of an early date. In a statement of account, dated 
Albany 22d, May, 1773, rendered by James Dole, merchant, of that city, for £68. 
16s. S^£d. the latter is credited by boards, plank, etc., and Daniel Jones' bond, 
together with cash nearly sufficient to cancel the same. The conclusion reached 
by this, is, that Hicks probably had the management of Jones and Wing's saw 
mill at the falls. Among the Wing papers is a receipt, dated 7th July, 1774, 
given by David Dickinson at Stillwater, for thirty one shillings in full of all de- 
mands in favor of '• Jacob His, Deseest." In another receipt given for payment 
of a bill of goods sold Jacob Hicks, 5th Aug., 1772, the paper bearinor date 7th May, 
1774, Benjn. Wing is named as executor. These data leave the inference quite 
probable that Hicks died in the latter part of 1773, or the early part of 1774. 
Two daughters, Sarah and Anstis, were the fruit of this marriage. Both survived 
and both married and raised large families. From the younger are descended 
Messrs. Hiram and Emery Harris of this village. 



86 



HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 



SEALERS OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. 

Babcock, Phineas, 1773. Peck, Charles, 1847. 

Cronkhite, William, 1869, 70. Peck, Daniel, 1819, 20, 1, 2, 3, 4, 

Hitchcock, Dwight, 1833, 4, 9, 5. 

40, 1, 2, 3, 4. Peck, Daniel, 1856. 

Hitchcock, Jared H., 1848,9, 50. Peck, Hermon, 1835, 6, 7, 8. 

Kenworthy, John L., 1851, 2, 3, Peck, Noble, 1846. 

4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 60, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, Pixley, Lewis L., 1826, 7, 8, 9, 

7, 8. 30, 1, 2 



INSPECTORS OF ELECTION. 



No. of 

District. 

1 Allen, Mark A., 1860, 1. 

1 Atherton, Archibald P., 1856, 

61, 2, 4, 5. 

3 Baker, Gardner M., 1864. 

2 Barber, Lucian T., 1862. 
1 Bentley, Stephen, 1856. 

1 Bentley, Stephen V., 1845. 

1 Brayton, William, 1843, 4. 

2 Briggs, William, 1848, 50, 2, 

3. 
1 Brown, Daniel, 1844, 5, 6, 7, 
9, 57. 

1 Brown, Valentine, 1873. 

2 Bullard, James P., 1857. 

4 Bullard, James P., 1862, 3. 

2 Burnhan, Josiah, 1863, 4, 72. 
4 Byrne, Frank, 1865,8. 
4 Ciiamplain, Horatio B., 1862. 
4 Cheney, Geo»ge W., 1865. 
2 Cheeseborough, Henry E., 

1873. 
1 Clements, Gilbert, 1856, 62, 

4. 
1 Clements, G. N., 1861. 

1 Clements, Tobias 1858. 

2 Codner, Henry, 1845, 9. 



No. of 
District. 

3 Coffin, Sanford, 1867. 

2 Cool,.Keyes p., 1843,4. 

4 Cronkhite, William, 1871, 2. 

1 Curtis, Quartus, 1858, 62, 3, 4. 
4 DeLong, Cutler J., 1869. 

4 DeLong, John B., 1873. 

4 DeLong, Theodore S., 1866, 7. 

3 Dix, James L., 1861. 

2 Eastwood, Martin, 1849. 

3 Fassett, John S., 1858. 

1 Fay, Ethan a., 1846. 

3 Fennell, a. Hackley, 1870, 3. 

2 Ferguson, Henry, 1847. 

3 Gilchrist, Charles M., 1858, 

9,60, 1,2,3,4,5,6,7, 8. 
2 Goodman, Stephen L., 1863,5, 

8, 9. 
2 Goodspeed, Stephen, 1848. 

2 Green, Joel B., 1870. 

3 Greenslit, George B., 1869. 

1 Gurney, David A., 1850, 1, 2. 
1 Gurney, Joseph H., 1843, 6, 

8, 50, 1, 2, 4, 9. 
1 Gurney, William B., 1860. 
I Harris, James W., 1866, 7, 8, 

9,70,1,2. 



CIVIL LIST. 



87 



No. of 
District. 

1 Harris, John W., 1865. 

1 Harris, L., 1863. 

1 Harris, Lipelet, 1866. 

1 Harris, Morris, 1848, 50, 1. 

1 Harris, Veniah, 1847. 

1 Haviland, Daniel S., 1853, 4, 

7. 

2 Haviland, Roger, 1859, 60. 

3 Haviland, Roger F., 1861, 2. 
2 Hawley, George G., 1868. 

2 Hawley, George K., 1864^ 6, 

7, 9, 70, 1, 2, 3. 
2 HiGBY, Richard W., 1851, 2. 
2 Hitchcock, Alfred F., 1858. 

4 HoDGiNS, James, 1864. 

8 Hotchkiss, Theodore, 1872. 
2 Hunt, Edgar W., 1869. 
1 Jenkins, Dewitt C, 1869. 
1 Jenkins, Gamaliel, ]855, 68, 
73. 

1 Jenkins, Lyman, 1870. 

2 Jenkins, Ransom, 1844, 5, 6, 

7,9. 
1 Jenkins, Palmer B., 1848, 9. 

1 Jenkins, Samuel, 1868, 9, 71, 

2,3. 

3 Keeffe, Daniel F , 1870. 

4 Kipp, RuLiFF, 1863, 6, 7, 70. 
3 Krum, Hiram, 1864. 7, 9. 

2 Lapham, Jerome, 1854, 5. 

3 Little, Meredith B., 1868, 9. 
2 Locke, Ira, 1856. 

2 McDonald, Leonard G., 1844. 

2 McDonald, William, 1843. 

3 Millington, Stokes P., 1863. 
3 Morgan, Alonzo W., 1865. 

3 Morg.\n, James W., 1>^70. 
2 MoTT, Zebulon W., 1850, 3. 

2 :n orris, Daniel G. 2d, 1870, 1, 

2. 

3 NoRRis, Daniel G., 1870, 1, 2. 

1 Odell, Benjamin, 1843, 9. 

2 Paddock, Ira A., 1846. 



No. of 

District. 

2 Peck, Marvin R., 1872. 

4 Philo, Henry, 1864. 

2 Platt, Myron, 1856. 

3 Rich, Marcus C, 1859. 

1 Ripley, Reuben, 1860. 

3 Roberts, Charles, 1872. 

2 Robertson, Alexander, 1857. 
2 Robinson, Frederick, 1855, 6. 
1 Scott, Joseph M., 1853, 4. 

1 Seelye, Lemuel C. P., 1844, 58, 

9. 
1 Seelye, Reuben, 1855. 
1 SissoN, Daniel H., 1867. 

1 SissoN, James, 1851, 2. 

2 Slocum, Warren, 1855. 

4 Smith, Eugene A., 1872, 3. 
1 Smith, H. J., 1863. 

3 Smith, Walter, 1859. 

1 Smith, Warren J., 1865, 6, 7, 

70, 2. 

2 Sprague, Merritt, 1854. 

4 Stewart, L. B., 1865. 

4 Stewart, Robert, 1866, 7, 8, 

9, 70, 1, 2, 3. 
2 Swan, Luke W., 1861, 5. 
2 Tearse, Archibald C, 1861. 
2 Thompson, Charles, 1858. 
2 Tho.mpson, John S., 1865, 6, 7, 

8. 
2 Vanderheyden, George, 1859. 
2 Vanduzen, H., 1860. 
4 Vanduzen, Hiram, 1862. 
4 Van Heusen, Jacob, 1863, 4, 

8,9. 
2 Vaughn, Eleazer S., 1843, 5, 

6, 7, 8. 

1 Vaughn, William M., 1847. 

2 Wells, Bethuel, 1869. 

1 Wells, Joel, 1845, 57. 

2 Wells, Hiram, 1862, 4. 
2 Wells, Hiram H., 1863. 

2 Whipple, Archibald P., 1857, 
8, 9, 60, 1, 2. 



88 



HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 



No. of 

District. 



No. of 

District.' 



2 VViLMARTH, Martin L., 1850, 3 Winchip, Ransom J., 1873. 

4, 5. 2 Wing, Halsey R., 1853. 

3 WiLMARTH, M. L., 1858, 62, 6, 3 Wing, H. R., 1860, 3, 5. 

8. 1 Wing, Nehemiah, 1859. 

1 Winchip, Ansel, 1852, 3. 2 Wing, Richard, 1851. 

3 Winchip, Joel P., 1S60, 6. 2 Witherel, Bethuel, 1866. 



OVERSEERS OF HIGHWAYS, OR PATHMASTERS. 



Ainsworth, John, 1864, 5, 72, 3. 
Allen, Peleg, 1836. 
Allen, Warren, 1872. 
Allen, William, 1813, 17. 
Allston, G., 1867. 
Allston, John, 1849, 51. 
Allston, John E., 1868, 72, 3. 
Anderson, Courtney, 1865, 6. 
Anderson, Rupus, 1856,^63. 
Andrews, Levi, 1822. 
Arnold, William, 186(t. 
AsHER, Joseph, 1865. 
Auckland, Charles, 1842, 8, 66, 

7,9. 
Austin, Francis, 1848. 
Austin, John, 1842. 
Austin, John D., 1843, 4, 6, 7. 
Austin, Phineas, 1796. 
Austin, Puineas G., 1845, 50, 

7,8. 
Baker, Almon J., 1841, 3, 50, 1, 

2, 5, 6, 60, 3, 4, 8, 9, 70, 2. 
Baker, Alanson, 1855, 7. 
Baker, Amos, 1846, 7. 
Baker, Everett C, 1857. 
Baker, Gardiner, 1850, 2, 3, 4, 

67. 
Baker, Henry, 1845, 6, 7, 8, 9, 

50, 1. 
Baker, Howaud, 1855. 
Baker, Howoill. 1868. 
Baker, Reuben, 1850. 



Baker, Stephen, 1800. 
Baker, W. W... 1864. 
Ball, Samuel, 1834. 
Barber, Daniel, 1860. 
Barber, David, 1835, 6, 7, 43, 51. 
Barber, Hiram, 1838. 
Barber, John, 1854, 64. 
Barber, Simeon T., 1842. 
Barber, William H., 1867, 72, 3. 
Barber, Zebadiah, 1857. 
Barden, Lyman A., 1854, 72. 
Barker, Henry, 1859. 
Barker, Nicholas, 1792. 
Bartow, Elijah, 1790, 5. 
Bates, Cornell A., 1843, 5. 
Bates, Ebenezer, 1820, 33, 4, 5, 

6, 47. 
Bates, George, 1806. 
Bates, Georgk, 1858. 
Bates, John K., 1832. 
Bates, Levi, 1861, 2, 3. 
Bates, Royal, 1872, 3. 
Bates, Luther, 1851, 2. 
Bates, William, 1852, 5, 63. 
Beadlestone, Carmi, 1832, 4. 
Beadlestone, Charles, 1835, 8. 
Beadlestone, Henry, 1799, 1803. 
Beadlestone, Henry, 1862, 8. 
Beadlestone, Henry Jr., 1802. 
Beadlestone, Henry J., 1857, 67. 
Beadlestone, Job, 1802, 4, 8, 9, 

11, 16,24,39,43,4,5,6,7,8,9! 



CIVIL LIST. 89 

Beadlestone, Johnson, 1846. Breene, Patrick, 1869, 72, 3. 

Beadlestone, Stephen, 1800, 1, Briggs, James, 1833, 56. 

5, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17. Briggs, Jeremiah, 1787, 90, 5. 

Beadlestone, William, 1851, 2. Briggs, Jeremiah, 1834. 

Beebe, John, 1809. Briggs, John, 1824, 32. 

Bell, George, 1863. Briggs, Walter, 1797, 8, 1808, 

Bell, William, 1853, 6, 60. 12, 13, 19, 23. 

Bennett, Charles, 1868, 9. Brill, Cornelius, 1825. 

Bennett, Thomas, 1840. , Brown, Asa, 1793. 

Bennett, Thomas B., 1849, 51. Brown, Asa, 1855, 64. 

Bentley, Asa, 1823, 6. Brown, Asahel C, 1868, 9, 70. 

Bentley, Cornelius, 1839. Brown, Benedick, 1775, 6, 7, 9, 

Bentley, David, 1836. 86. 

Bentley, Isaac, 1840. Brown, Benedick, 1847. 

Bentley, John, 1853, 68, 70, 3. Brown, Benjamin, 1816. 

Bentley, Joseph, 1798, 1803. Brown, Charles, 1867, 9. 

Bentley, Joseph, 1850. Brown, Daniel, 1832, 41, 7, 53, 

Bentley, Richard, 1809, 11, 12, 4, 7, 61, 2. 

14, 16, 18, 21, 4, 33, 6, 7, 9, 40. Brown, George, 1843, 6, 7, 58, 9, 

Bentley Richard 2d, 1833. 60, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 70, 2, 

Bentley, Stephen, 1841, 2, 8, 9, 3. 

51, 2, 5, 64. Brown, George V., 1820. 

Bentley, Warren, 1856. Brown, Howgill, 1794, 1813. 

Bishop, Jesse, 1842, 4, 5. Brown, Howgill Jr., 1826. 

Blackburn, Robert, 1867, 8. Brown, John, 1810, 12. 

Blood, Charles, 1844. Brown, John, 1864, 5, 6, 8. 

BoYCE, William, 1848. Brown, Justus, 1799, 1805. 

Boyle, John, 1809. Brown, Justus Jr, 1824, 33. 

Bratt, Isaac, 1839, 40, 1, 2, 3, 4, Brown, Lewis, 1867, 8, 70, 2, 3. 

6, 51, 2. Brown, Nathaniel, 1822, 38. 

Brayton, Asa, 1857, 64. Brown, Richard, 1811, 14, 18, 

Brayton, Asa W., 1840, 6, 7, 61, 25, 37, 63. 



9, 



Brown, Roswell, 1868, 72. 



Brayton, Danford, 1873. Brown, Schuyler, 1808, 9. 

Brayton, George, 1865. Brown, Silas, 1783, 4, 5, 92, 7, 

Brayton, John, 1803. 1800, 1, 4, 6, 12, 14. 

Brayton, John, 1832, 54. Brown, Stephen, 1810, 20, 34, 6. 

Brayton, Moses, 1820, 2, 6, 32, Brown, Timothy, 1810, 19. 

6, 9, 41, 2, 3. Brown, Truman, 1859, 60, 1, 5, 6, 

Brayton, Orlin, 1837, 9, 40, 2, 7. 

3, 8, 50, 4, 5, 6, 60. Brown, Valentine, 1787, 92, 7, 

Brayton, Wellington, 1863. 1801, 2. 

Breene, Edward, 1870, 3. Brown^ William, 1863, 70. 
12 



90 



HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURT. 



Brumaqem, Andrew, 1866, 8. 
Bryan, Patrick, 1862. 
Buck, Allen, 1833. 
Buck, David, 1787, 92,1801, 4,5. 
Buck, Ebenezer, 1794. 
Buck, Elias, 1805. 
Buck, John, 1796. 
BucKBEE, David, 1864. 
BucKBEE, Ezra, 1856. 
BucKBEE, Ezra I., 1841, 5, 9. 
BucKBEE, Israel, 1835, 6, 7, 9. 
BucKBEE, Jeremiah, 1834. 
Buckbee, Luman, 1864. 
Buckbee, Lyman, 1854. 
Burnham, David, 1815, 19. 
BuRNHAM, Halsey, 1821, 6, 32,3, 

6,8,40, 2, 6,7, 9, 54, 5, 6,7. 
Burnham, John, 1839, 67. 
Burton, Hiram, 1845, 53, 4, 5, 6, 

7. 
Bush, John, 1855, 7, 60, 3, 4. 
Butler, James, 1806. 
Butler, Zachariah, 1774. 
Calkins, Simon, 1805. 
Camp, Job S., 1854, 5, 64, 5. 
Carl, Duncan, 1843. 
Casey, Chester, 1840, 3, 8. 
Caswell, Reuben, 1792. 
Chadwick, William, 1858. 
Champlain, Daniel, 1865, 73. 
Champlain, David, 1834, 6, 7. 
Champlain, Horatio B., 1857, 8, 
9,60, 1,2, 3,4, 5, 6,7,70,2, 
3. 
Chapman, Albert, 1854. 
Chapman, Elisha, 1800. 
Chapman, Jehiel, 1802. 
Chapman, John, 1850, 1, 2, .3, 62, 

3, 6, 9, 72. 
Cheney, William 1869. 
Cheeseborough, Mortimer, 1868, 

9. 
Chestnut, William, 1858, 64. 
Church, Nathaniel, 1868. 



Clark, Ansel, 1816, 22. 
Clark, Stephen, 1814. 
Clements, Allen, 1857, 61, 6, 7, 

8, 70. 
Clements, Gilbert, 1860, 1, 3, 

6,7. 
Clements, John P., 1853, 63, 72. 
Clements, Tobias, 1857. 
Clendon, John, 1859. 60, 3. 
CoDNER, Henry, 1834, 9, 61, 2,8. 
Codner, Henry Jr., 1853. 
Coffin, Charles, 1846, 7. 
Coffin, Charles P., 1849. 
Coffin, Elisha, 1852, 61, 2. 
Coffin, Elisha F., 1858. 
Coffin, John, 1855, 60, 6. 
Coffin, John B., 1873. 
Coffin, Marcellus, 1862, 4, 5, 

6,7. 
Coffin, Sanford, 1861, 2, 3, 7. 
Cole, Elijah, 1843. 
Cole, Lemuel 1806. 
Collins, Benjamin, 1794. 
CoMMERS, John, 1870. 
Comstock, John A., 1836, 7. 
Cook, Daniel, 1810. 
Cornell, Edward, 1855, 6, 60. 
Cornell, James, 1848. 
Cornell, John, 1840. 
Corn WELL, Benjamin, 1794. 
CoRNWELL, Thomas, 1785. 
Crandell, Harlow, 1836, 43. 
Crandell, James, 1864. 
Crandell, James S., 1843. 
Crandell, Peter, 1838. 
Crannell, James, 1858. 
Crannell. John, 1832, 47. 
Crannell, John M., 1870, 2. 
Crannell, Robert, 1850, 1, 68. 
Cranny, Robert, 1838, 9. 
Credin, Daniel, 1872. 
Credon, Patrick, 1873. 
Cromwell, John M., 1858. 
Cronin, Daniel, 1873. 



CIVIL LIST. 



91 



Cronkhite, John, 1859. 
Crossett William, 1851. 
Curtis, Enos, 1804, 6. 
Gushing, John S., 1854. 
Daly, Samuel, 1805. 
Daly, Samuel, 1872. 
Danpord, Elisha, 1812, 13, 14, 17. 
Darby, John, 1819. 
Darling, John, 1790. 
Davidson, James, 1859, 60, 70, 3. 
Davidson, Moses, 1840, 56. 
Davis, William, 1816, 22, 3, 34, 

5, 6, 8, 45, 6. 
Day, John C, 1810, 21. 
Dean, David M., 1819, 20, 32, 4, 

5, 7, 9. 

Dean, Henry, 1826. 
Dean, Joel, 1799. 
Dean, Willett, 1809, 13. 
Pean, William, 1851, 5, 7, 8. 
Dennis, Britton, 1799. 
Dennis, Henry, 1825. 
Densmore, David, 1847, 9, 58, 64. 
Densmore, James, 1864. 
Dexter, Joel, 1840, 1, 2, 3, 6. 
Dickinson, Alonzo, 1862. 
Dickinson, E. S., 1869. 
Dickinson, Moses, 1850. 
Dickinson, Salmon, 1816, 21, 3, 

6, 41, 2, 6, 8, 60. 
Dickinson, Samuel, 1846, 7. 
Dickinson, Thomas, 1802. 
Dickinson, Warren, 1841, 8. 
Dixon, Alanson, 1844, 5, 6, 9, 50, 

3,4,6,7, 8, 9,61, 2, 9. 
Dixon, Joel, 1840, 4. 
DooLiTTLE, John, 1799. 
Doty, Samuel, 1795. 
Doty, William, 1869. 
Dunham, Elijah, 1813, 14, 15. 
Durreen, Chauncey, 1851, 2, 3, 

4, 61, 7, 8. 
Eaglestone, Giles, 1834. 
Eaglestone, John, 1790, 2, 3. 



Eaglestone, Zebulon, 1794. 
Eastwood, Martin, 1820. 
Eastwood, Martin Jr., 1845, 7. 
Eddy, Charles R., 1867, 70, 2, 3. 
Edmond, Walter, 1832. 
Ellis, Enoch, 1865. 
Ellis Nichols, 1824. 
Ellis, Zabina, 1858. 
Ellsworth, John, 1866, 7, 8. 
Elms, DeWitt C, 1845. 
Elms, Pardon M., 1843. 
EsTABROOK, Samuel, 1833. 
Fairchild, Agur, 1788. 
Fairchild, Asahel, 1825, 33, 4. 
Fairchild, Daniel, 1806, 18, 19, 

22, 32, 3. 
Fairchild, Daniel D., 1834. 
Fairchild, Peter, 1787, 8, 9, 90, 

92. 
Fairchild, Samuel, 1786. 
Fairchild, Seneca, 1820. 
Fancher, Henry, 1851. 
Fancher, Isaac, 1813, 26, 33, 5. 
Fancher, Isaac D., 1858, 9. 
Fancher, John, 1839. 
Fancher, W. W., 1863. 
Ferguson, Henry, 1843. 
Ferris, Alfred, 1808. 
Ferris, Benjamin W., 1833, 9, 

40. 
Ferris, David, 1786. 
Ferris, Horace, 1817. 
Ferris, James, 1789, 90. 
Ferris, John A., 1797. 
Ferris, Morris, 1799, 1806. 
Ferris, Warren, 1793. 
Finch, Michael C, 1856, 8, 9, 62, 

3. 
Fisher, Henry, 1837. 
Fisher, Sidney B., 1855. 
Flewelling, Timothy, 1833, 51, 

2, 9, 60. 
FoLGER, Elisha, 1786, 9, 90, 2. 
FoLsoM, Daniel, 1822. 



92 



HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 



Force, Freeman, 1809. 
Foster, Joseph, 1854. 
F0STER,J0SEPH Jr., 1855, 6. 
Fowler, John G., 1866. 
Franklin, Daniel, 1819. 
Freeman, William, 1813. 
Frink, Joseph, 1794. 
Fritz, Francis, 1826. 
Fuller, Allen, 1837. 
Fuller, Benjamin, 1796, 7, 18, 19. 
Fuller, Benjamin, 1855. 
Fuller, Cornelius. 1825. 
Fuller, DeWitt C, 1861, 2. 
Fuller, Ebenezer, 1778, 87. 
Fuller, Edward, 1795, 21. 
Fuller, Garrett, 1843, 51, 2. 
Fuller, George, 1851, 2, 61. 
Fuller, James M., 1817, 32, 7. 
Fuller, Matthew, 1792, 1804. 
Fuller, Olley, 1848. 
Gage, John, 1855, 6, 8, 9, 68, 9, 73. 
Garland, James, 1873. 
Garrett, Weight, 1803. 
Gazlay, John F., 1837, 42. 
Gifpord, Benjamin, 1819, 20. 
GiPPORD, Joseph, 1854. 
Gillespie, John C, 1833. 
GiLLEY, Isaac, 1858, 9, 60. 
Gleason, Harvey, 1858, 9, 60, 2, 

3. 
GooDENOW, H., 1822. 
Goodenow, Timothy, 1821, 3, 34, 

.5, 7, 43. 
GooDSPEED, Stephen, 1843, 6. 
Gourlay, William N., 1870, 2. 

Graves, Bela, 1821, 4, 6. 

Green, Charles H., 1861. 

Green, Haviland, 1845. 

Green, Henry, 1837, 58. 

Green, Levi, 1836, 45. 

Griffin, Alonzo, 1855, 7. 

Griffin, Bartholomew, 1825, 88, 
9,44. 

Griffin, Caleb, 1833. 



Griffin, Gershom, 1832, 3, 4. 
Griffin, Haviland, 1835, 6, 7, 8, 

9, 40, 1, 2, 3, 4, 57, 65, 6. 
Griffin, Isaac, 1838, 9. 
Griffin, Isaac B., 1822, 5, 33, 42, 

4, 5, 8, 9, 51, 2. 
Griffin, Isaiah, 1835, 6, 8, 9, 41. 
Griffin, John, 1804, 6. 
Griffin, John, 1858, 9, 60, 2, 3, 4, 

72. 
Griffin, Jonathan, 1807, 16, 17, 

24. 
Griffin, Seneca, 1836, 41, 5, 6, 

54. 
Griffin, William, 1842, 3. 50. 
Gross, Crowell, 1792. 
Grosvenor, Elijah, 1795. 
GuRNEY, Abraham, 1833, 46. 
GuRNEY, David A., 1850, 1, 2. 
GuRNEY, Enoch, 1822, 5, 36 ^ 

GuRNEY, John, 1832. 
GuRNEY, John B., 1821. 
GuRNEY, Joseph H., 1832, 43. 
GuRNEY, William B., 1850, 62,7, 

9,73. 
Guyette, Lewis, 1863, 4. 
Hackett, Andrew, 1848, 50. 
Hackett, Ebenezer, 1822, 39,45, 

6, 7, 8. 
Hackett, Pearl, 1857, 62. 
Hackett, Robert, 1856. 
Haight, Ambrose, 1816, 18. 
Haight, Isaiah, 1809, 15. 
Haight, Josiah, 1806. 
Haight, Solomon, 1804, 9. 
Haines, Henry, 1868. 
Halleck, Amos, 1837, 8, 48. 
Hamilton, Levi, 1823. 
Hamlin, Luman, 1866. 
Hammond. Ebenezer, 1815. 
Hammond, Thomas, 1820. 
Hammond, Walter, 1839, 40, 1. 
Hanna, James, 1869. 
Hanson, John, 1823. 



I 



CIVIL LIST. 93 

Hardin, Jesse, 1848, 54, 5. Haviland, Daniel T , 1858. 

Harris, Asa, 1808. Haviland, Daniel S., 1841, 53, 
Harris, Asa S., 1853, 60, 7, 73. 63, 4, 5, 9. 

Harris, Benjamin, 1835, 45, 6, 53. Haviland, David, 1859. 

Harris, Brayton, 1843, 8, 51, 8, Haviland, David J., 1852, 6. 

9, 64, 9, 50. Haviland, George, 1850. 

Harris, Charles, 1820, 1. Haviland, Henry, 1844. 

Harris, Daniel, 1802, 8, 17. Haviland, John, 1868. 

Harris, Elifalet, 1853. Haviland, John G., 1838, 40, 8, 
Harris, Ezra, 1872, 8. 56, 61. 

Harris, George, 1820. Haviland, John G. 2d, 1870. 

Harris, Henry, 1806, 15, 22. Haviland, John M., 1836, 7, 9, 
Harris, Henry, 1859, 63, 6, 70, 3. 43, 6, 53, 4. 

Harris, John, 1856, 9, 65,6, 7, Haviland, Joseph, 1833, 7, 9, 42, 

70. 5,7,8,9,50,3,5,7,60,1,2,4, 

Harris, John B., 1841. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 70, 2. 

Harris, John F., 1815, 18, 23. Haviland, Joseph Jr., 1869, 73. 

Harris, John J., 1832, 3, 4, 6, 42, Haviland, Roger, ") 1832, 3, 

65. Haviland, Roger Jr., J 5, 6, 7, 
Harris, Joseph, 1838, 48, 53. 8, 45, 7, 58, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 60, 1, 

Harris, Joshua, 1811. 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9. 

Harris, Marvin C, 1835, 53. Haviland, Roger E., 1870. 

Harris, Moses, 1804. Haviland, Roger F., 1862. 

Harris, Moses, 1832, 46, 8, 50, 3, Haviland, Roger T., 1820. 

63, 4, 5. Haviland, William, 1850, 67, 8. 

Harris, Moses Jr., 1811, 12, 17. Hawkes, William, 1833. 

Harris, Moses Jr., 1839, 43, 5, 6, Hawkins, Zachariah, 1847. 

56. Hawley, Daniel, 1835. 

Harris, Moses R., 1856. Hawley, Elias, 1818. 

Harris, Moses W., 1832. Hayes, Thomas, 1802. 

Harris, Rupus, 1883, 56. Hays, David, 1814. 

Harris, Samuel, 1825, 6, 33, 9, Hays, Nathan, 1804. 

53, 4, 5. Hendryx, Abraham, 1795, 6, 
Harris, Thomas, 1843, 58. 1803. 

Harris, William, 1799, 1805. Hendryx, Amos, 1833, 56, 9, 67, 
Harris, William B., 1809, 12, 18. 8, 70, 2. 

Harris, Veniah, 1857, 60, 8. Hendryx, Benjamin, 1796, 1813, 
Harris, Veniah W., 1838, 48, 55, 23. 

70, 2, 3. . Herald, John, 1857. 

Hartman, Joel, 1852, 3. Hessey, Peter, 1845. 

Hartman, Leonard, 1864. Higson, James, 1793, 7, 1800. 

Harvey, Henry, 1809, 22, 26. Higson, John, 1804, 10, 16, 17. 

Harvey, Samuel, 1810, 18. Hill, Jesse, 1858, 60. 

Haviland, Abraham, 1809, 10. Hillis, James, 1857, 61. 



94 



HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 



Hitchcock, Gteorge, 1868, 9. 
Hitchcock, Jared, 1834. 
Hitchcock, John H., 1815. 

HODGINS, GrEORQE, 1850. 

HoDGiNS, James, 1857, 9, 62, 9, 70, 

Holbrook, Joel, 1839, 40. 
Holt, Robert, 1840, 3, 4, 5, 6. 
Hopkins, Alanson B., 1843, 4, 

53, 4, 60. 
Hopkins, Amos, 1826. 
Hopkins, John H., 1870. 
Hopkins, Richard, 1803, 14. 
Howard, Horace, 1846, 62, 3, 72, 
Howard, Stephen, 1786. 
Howard, Thomas, 1823. 
Howe, Lewis, 1862. 
Hubbard, Edwin, 1860. 
HuBBELL, Dudley A., 1815, 17, 

18, 45, 6. 
Hubbell, Dudley F., 1851. 
Hubbell, Dudley M., 1841, 6, 7, 

50. 
Hubbell, Frederick, 1810, 19, 

20, 4, 32, 51, 2. 
Hubbell, Frederick S , 1842, 55, 

63,9. 
Hubbell, Horace, 1872, 3. 
Hubbell, Jerome, 1872, 3. 
Hubbell, John, 1854, 7. 
Hubbell, John P., 1858, 9, 60, 1, 

2,3,7,8. 
Hubbell, John R., 1850 
Hubbell, Shadrach, 1813, 16, 17, 

18, 19, 20, 1, 2, 35, 6, 64, 5. 
Huddlestone, William, 1853, 4. 
Hull, Daniel, 1809 
Hull, Daniel Jr., 1813. 
Hull, Joseph, 1841, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 

57,8. 
Hull, Lemuel, 1864. 
Hull, Leonard D., 1869, 70, 2, 3. 
Hull, Nelson, 1862, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 

9, 72, 3. 



Hull, Orange, 1859, 60. 
Hull, Orville, 1855. 
HuRD, Elijah, 1855, 68. 
HussEY, Nathan, 1848. 
HuTCHiNS, George, 1848. 
Irish, Amos, 1818. 
Jenkins, Alexander, 1833, 9. 

Ansel, 1854. 

Barnabas, 1848, 9. 

Gary, 1811, 12, 16, 18, 

3. 

Chauncey, 1865. 

Clark, 1822, 40, 4, 5. 

Gamaliel, 1857, 8. 

Jedediah, 1797, 8. 

Jedediah, 1834, 52. 

Jedediah S., 1823,6,37, 

4,9. 

Joseph, 1815, 33. 

Lyman, 1851, 7, 68. 

Palmer, 1803, 26. 

Palmer B., 1840. 

Ransom, 1822, 35, 41,4, 



Jenkins 
Jenkins 
Jenkins 

19,20, 
Jenkins 
Jenkins 
Jenkins 
Jenkins 
Jenkins 
Jenkins 

43, 51 
Jenkins 
Jenkins 
Jenkins 
Jenkins 
Jenkins 

5. 
Jenkins 
Jenkins 
Jenkins 
Jenkins 
Jenkins 
Johnson 
Johnson 



Rensselaer, 1853. 

Reynolds, 1849. 

Samuel, 1866, 9. 

Simeon, 1804, 8. 

Thomas, 1801. 

John, 1815. 

William, 1777. 
JosLiN, LoRiN, 1859, 60, 1, 2. 
Kenyon, John, 1797, 8. 
Ketchum, Warren, 1852, 9, 60, 

70, 3. 
KiLLDUFF, Bryan, 1856, 7. 
KiLLMER, Henry, 1840, 56, 65. 
Kingsley, John, 1870. 
Kipp, RuLiFP, 1841, 3, 5, 6. 
Kirkham, Thomas L., 1846, 9. 
KiRKPATRiCK, John, 1854, 8,9, 70. 
Knapp, Isaac, 1818, 48, 50, 1. 
Knapp, Isaac Jr., 1851. 
Knapp, Isaac J., 1841. 



CIVIL LIST. 



95 



Knapp, Leonard, 1848. 
Knox, Henry, 1867, 8. 
Knox, William, 1853. 
Lane, Leonard, 1825. 
Lane, Lewis, 1821, 2. 
Langdon, Benjamin, 1833. 
Langdon, Richard, 1844, 5, 7, 8, 

9, 65. 
Langdon, Samuel, 1842, 9. 
Langdon, Thomas, 1835. 
Lapham, Benjamin, 1813, 19, 20, 

2,3. 
Lapham, Jonathan, 1826. 
Lapham, Stephen, 1786, 8, 97, 9, 

1800. 
Lapoint, Stephen, 1862. 
Larose, James, 1867, 8. 
Larose, Joseph, 1866. 
Lauder, David, 1846, 7, 9, 50, 2, 

3, 4, 9, 60, 3, 70. 
Lauder, John, 1869. 
Lauder, John B., 1861, 2. 
Lauder, Joseph, 1864. 
Leavins, Royal, 1817, 26. 
Lemoin, John, 1826. 
Lockhart, George, 1863. 
Lockhart, James, 1857, 62, 5, 6, 

7,8. 
Lockhart, John, 1860. 
Long, Robert, 1856. 
Loop, Benjamin, 1850, 1, 2. - 
Lord, Asa, 1824, 33,41, 2. 
Lord, Asa L., 1826. 
Lord, Ira, 1836, 44. 
Lord, Levi, 1837. 
McAuLEY, James, 1852. 
McAuley, Hugh, (a) 1786, 7, 8, 

9,92. 
McCrippen, Thomas, 1850. 



McCumber, Jonathan, 1806, 12. 
McDonald, Alexander, 1857, 8. 
McDonald, Daniel, 1868, "9, 70, 

2,3 
McDonald, Richard, 1841, 5. 
McDonald, William, 1869, 72. 
McDouGALL, William, 1870. 
McEachron Daniel D., 1848. 
McEachron, John, 1861, 3, 70, 

2,3. 
McKinney, William, 1848, 72. 
Madison, Job, 1867. 
Marshal, Francis, 1792, 5. 
Mason, Calvin, 1860, 1, 7. 
Matteson, John, 1868, 73. 
Mattison, Charles, 1814. 
Mattocks, James, 1803, 4. 
Mattocks, John, 1800. 
Mead, Anson, 1834. 
Mead, Enos, 1866, 8, 9, 70. 
Mead, Ezra, 1838, 44, 5. 
Mead, John H., 1867, 9, 70, 3. 
Merritt, Ichabod, 1769. 
Mickle, Henry, 1852. 
Millard, George, 1872. 
Millard, Stephen, 1804, 9, 11, 14. 
Miller, Ashbell, 1801. 
Miller, John, 1862, 3. 
Mills, Calvin, 1839. 
Moon, Andrew, 1870. 
Moon, Robert, 1797, 8. 
Moon, Robert Jr., 1806. 
Moon, Solomon, 1801, 5, 6, 15. 
Moore, Eli, 1847, 8, 51, 2. 
Morgan, James W.. 1872, 3. 
Morgan, Reuben, 1797, 1811, 22, 

3, 5. 
Moses, Henry, 1826. 
Moses, William H., 1857, 64, 5, 6. 



(a) Conjectured to be the ancestor of the McAuley family of Glen's Falls. On the 
11th of April, 1796, an act was passed by the State Legislature for the relief of 
Hugh McAuley granting him two hundred acres out of vacant, unappropriated 
lands in the eastern district of the state. 



96 



HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 



MosHER, Benjamin S., 1844. 
MosHER, Christopher H., 1838. 
MosHfeR, Daniel, 1857. 
MosHER, Isaac, 1821, 34, 8, 9, 49. 
MosHER, Isaac Jr., 1847. 
MosHER, Nathan, 1848, 52. 
MoYNAHEN, Timothy, 1872, 3. 



Paddock, Ira A., 1861. 
Palmer, Alexander, 1833. 
Palmer, George, 1861. 
Palmer, John, 1832. 
Palmer, Tim M., 1826, 34. 
Parrish, Rice R., 1870, 2, 3. 
Parks, John K., 1809. 



Murray, Aaron Gr., 1857, 9, 60, Parks, Joseph, 1813. 

5. Parsons, Charles, 1850, 66, 7, 8, 
Murray, James, 1832, 9. 

Murray, Philemon, 1816, 17, 18. Peabce, Jacob, 1846. 

Murray Philemon 1866, 7, 72. Peck, Benjamin, 1841, 3. 



Negus, Joseph, 1808. 
Newcome, Charles, 1873. 
Nicholson, Charles, 1854, 69. 
Niles, William, 1825. 
norris, josiah, 1853. 
Northrup, Joseph, 1796. 
Norton, Benjamin, 1863, 4. 
Norton, Philander, 1858, 9. 
Norton, William, 1866, 7, 8. 
Numan, Clark, 1803. 



Peck, Edmund, 1815. 
Peck, Peter, 1794, 6, 7, 8. 
Peck, Peter, 1863, 4, 5, 6, 9. 
Peck, Reuben, 1802, 16. 
Peck, Smith, 1838. 
Peirsons, Sylvester, 1847. 
Pettis, Peleg, 1799, 1800. 
Phelps, Alpheus, 1822, 53, 5, 6. 
Phelps, Andrew, 1869. 
Phelps, John, 1836, 59, 60, 2. 



Numan, Daniel, 1819, 50, 1, 2, 3, Phettiplace, John, 1827. 



4, 5, 7. 
Numan, Israel, 1801. 
Numan, Lewis, 1832, 3, 4, 43. 
Numan, Orange, 1836, 7, 9, 40, 1, 

2,3,51, 2, 61. 
Numan, Reuben, 1811, 14, 25. 
Oakland, Charles, 1852. 
Oakley, Charles, 1856, 60. 
O'Connor, Robert, 1873. 
Odell, Augustin M., 1823, 5. 



Phettiplace, John, 1859. 

Philo, Henry, 1854. 

Philo, Samuel, 1822, 32, 3, 4, 5, 

6,7. 
Philo, Wilkie, 1860. 
Pike, George, 1864. 
Pike, Samuel, 1847. 
fPiTCHER, Alfred, 1802, 3, 6, 15, 
/ 19, 22, 3, 5, 32, 4. 
Pitcher, Benjamin, 1797, 8. 
Odell, Benjamin, 1824, 33, 42, 6, Pitcher, Jonathan, 1786,9,93, 

55, 6, 8,9, 60, 5, 6, 8, 72, 3. 1814. 

Odell, Jacob, 1802. Pitcher, Jonathan Jr., 1797. 

Odell, Nathaniel, 1797. -^Pitts, Levi, 1793, 5. 

Odell, Samuel, 1793, 1800, 13, Pixley, Lewis L., 1824. 

15. Platt, Elmore, 1843, 7, 8, 55, 9, 

Ogden, David, 1816, 44. 65. 

Ogden, William G., 1820, 34. Platt, Harvey, 1870. 
Orr, Alexander, 1844, 50, 1, 2. Poor, Abel, 1837. 
Orr, Daniel, 1862, 5, 6. Poor, David, 1816, 17. 

Osgood, Jesse, 1850, 5, 6. Potter, Ezekiel, 1833. 



CIVIL LIST. 



97 



Potter, Jonathan W., 1862, 3,4, 

70,3. 
Potter, Washington, 1848. 
Price, Orlin, 1861. 
Putnam, Benajah, 1766, 7. 
Putnam, Jefferson, 1839. 
Kamsay, George B., 1853. 
Ranger, Parsons, 1803, 16. 
Rauston, William, 1865. 
Ray, Harry, 1844. 
Reynolds, Benjamin, 1839. 
Reynolds, Olduck, 1849, 51, 2. 
Reynolds, Solomon, 1803, 5. 
Rheubottom, Samuel, 1870. 
Rice, L. N., 1869. 
Richards, Edmund B., 1842. 
Richardson, William, 1862, 5, 6, 

7, 9, 70. 
Riley, John, 1864. 
Ring, Peter, 1845, 6, 7, 8, 9. 
Ripley, Asa Jr., 1813. 
Ripley, Doctor, 1818, 19, 20, 1. 
Ripley, James, 1814, 17, 25, 33, 

45, 9, 52. 
Ripley, Reuben, 1858, 9, 70. 
RoBARDS, Ebenezer, 1800. 
Robards, William, 1787. 
Robards, William Jr., 1802, 4. 
Robinson, Hector, 1857. 
Robinson, Lyman, 1856, 60, 9, 70. 
Robinson, Lyman Jr., 1873. 
Robison, Alexander, 1851, 2, 

3, 68. 
Rogers, Jacob M., 1826. 
Rogers, Jeremiah, 1806, 8, 9, 12, 

17, 20, 2, 3. 

Russell, Esq., 1792. 

Sanford, Charles S., 1843. 
Sanford, David, 1798, 1806. 
Sanford, Frederic, 1851, 4, 5. 
Sanford, G-eorge, 1835. 
Sanford, Goold, 1825, 35, 40, 5, 

8. 
Schermerhorn, William, 1851,2, 
13 



Scott, James, 1836, 8, 41, 3. 
Scott, William, 1847. 
Seelye, Benjamin, 1802, 14, 21. 
Seelye, David, 1835, 7, 41, 4, 7, 

8, 52, 5, 6, 9, 61, 2. 
Seelye, George, 1860. 
Seelye, Justus, 1800, 3. 
Seelye, Lemuel C. P., 1844, 55. 
Seelye, Reuben, 1808. 
Seelye, Reuben, 1834, 5, 6, 40, 2, 
■ 5, 7, 8. 
Seelye, Reuben, 1856, 8,60, 1, 2, 

3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. 
Seelye, William A., 1866, 9. 
Sellick, Jonas, 1857, 61, 5, 6. 
Sew all, John, 1846. 
Sewall, Jonathan, 1819. 
Shaver, Jacob, 1832, 7. 
Shaw, Daniel, 1848. 
Shaw, Nehemiah, 1838. 
Sheldon, Allen, 1836, 65, 6, 7. 
Sheldon, Nehemiah, 1835. 
Shelley, Ira, 1808. 
Sherman, Asa, 1834, 8, 43, 4, 8, 

54, 5, 6, 8, 64, 5. 
Sherman, Burden, 1837. 
Sherman, Ebenezer, 1800, 1. 
Sherman, James, 1811. 
Sherman, Nathan, 1846, 7, 9, 50. 
Sherman, Stephen, 1820, 1, 33, 8, 

9. 
Sherwood, Thomas A., 1811. 
Shippey, Charles, 1815. 
Shippey, Dewey, 1839, 40, 50. 
Shippey. Thomas, 1847, 8. 
Simpson, George, 1857. 
Simpson, Houston, 1853. 
Simpson, John, 1839, 42. 
Simpson, Peter, 1834, 5, 6. 
SissoN, Benjamin, 1827. 
SissoN, Daniel, 1866, 7, 70. 
SissoN, James, 1852. 
SissoN, Nathaniel, 1798. 
Smith, George, 1857, 9, 63, 4. 



98 



HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 



Smith, Isaac, 1853. 
Smith, John H., 1872. 
Smith, Justin, 1800, 5. 
Smith, Major F., 1854, 8, 60. 
Smith, Mason F., 1843. 
Smith, Walter, 1842, 4, 6, 8, 9, 

56. 
Spencer, Benjamin, 1821. 
Spencer, Henry, 1802,11, 12, 15, 

18, 19, 21, 4, 32, 4. 
SpicER, Eben, 1839. 
Sprague, Beriah, 1811. 
Sprague, Warren, 1861. 
Staats, Jehoiachim, 1834. 
Staats, Peter, 1838, 9, 42. 
Staples, Abram, 1852. 
Staples, Anson R., 1856. 
Stedwell, Gilbert, 1815, 25. 
Stedwell, Roger, 1794. 
Stephenson, James, 1805, 6, 12. 
Stephenson, Marmadcke, 1806. 
Stephenson, Stephen, 1795, 6, 9. 
Stevens, Lucius B., 1856. 
Stevenson, Andrew, 1837, 40, 1, 

2. 
Stewart, James B., 1863, 72. 
Stewart, Peter, 1864. 
Stewart, Robert, 1857, 8, 9, 60, 

1,72. 
Stower, Asa, 1805. 
Stringham, Thomas, 1794 
Sturdevant, Levi, 1854, 65. 
Swain, George, 1863. 
Sweet, Abraham, 1832. 
Sweet, Benoni, 1802, 3, 8, 9. 
Sweet, David, 1832. 
Sweet, Dodge, 1801, 35. 
Sweet, Elnathan, 1823, 5l 
Sweet, George, 1856, 8, 9, 64. 
Sweet, George W., l!^61. 
Sweet, Hermes, 1821. 
Sweet, Jacob, 1857. 
Sweet, Jeremiah, 1857. 
Sweet, Nelson, 1854, 9,62, 5 ,6, 7. 



Sweet, William, 1834, 40. 
Taylor, Gilbert, 1825, 44, 5, 50. 
Taylor, Thomas, 1858, 9, 70. 
Tearse, Peter B., 1795. 
Thayer, William, 1854, 5, 6. 
Thomas, Charles, 1836. 
Thomas, Henry, 1864. 
Thomas, Israel, 1793, 4. 
Thomas, Israel Jr., 1797, 8. 
Thomas, Paul, 1869, 72. 
Thomas, Seth, 1808, 18, 23. 
Thurston, Henry, 1825. 
Tibbits, Benjamin, 1795, 9. 
TiLLOTSON, David, 1832. 
Tillotson, John C, 1851, 2. 
TiNNEY, Asa, 1846, 56. 
Tinney, Asa F., 1862. 
Titus, Abram J. G., 1853, 66, 9, 

70, 2, 3. 
Traphagan, John J. B., 1872. 
Traver, John, 1858, 9, 65, 6, 7, 

8, 9, 70, 3. 
Tripp, James, 1794. 
Tripp, Jonathan, 1804. 
Tubes, George, 1839. 
TuBBs, Jeremiah, 1812, 16, 26, 

33. 
TuBBS, Seneca, 1836, 7, 40, 1, 3, 

5, 8, 50. 
Tucker, Abraham, 1787, 8, 9. 
Upton, Walter Jr., 1815. 
Vandusen, Abraham, 1814, 21, 

34, 7, 43, 4, 8, 51, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7. 
Vanduzen, Charles, 1857, 8. 
Vanduzen, David, 1823. 
Vanduzen, Dewitt, 1859, 60. 
Vanduzen, Hartman, 1805, 12. 
Vanduzen, Harvey, 1850. 
Vanduzen, Harvey, 1850. 
Vanduzen, Henry, 1866. 
Vanduzen, Hiram, 1858,62,7, 8. 
Vanduzen, John, 1790, 2. 
Vanduzen, John Jr., 1804, 5, 11, 

12, 17, 18, 22. 



i 



CIVIL LIST. 



99 



Vanduzen, John R., 1857, 73. 
Vanduzen, Myron, 1847, 8. 
Vanduzen, Orrin, 1845, 65, 7, 8. 
Vanduzen, Robert, 1839, 66. 
Vanduzen, William, 1835. 
Vanduzen, Zenas, 1841, 9, 56. 
Vanduzen, Zephaniah, 1865. 
VanHeusen, Gtarrett, 1872, 3. 
Vantassell, Hermon, 1826, 38, 9, 

40, 1. 
Varney, Daniel, 1866. • 
Varney, David, 1869. 
Varney, Harvey, 1845, 9, 54, 5. 
Vaughn, David, 1837. 
Vaughn, George, 1865, 6, 8. 
Vaughn, James, 1826. 
Vaughn, Stephen, 1840, 5, 55, 8, 

62. 
Vaughn, Wellington, 1857, 9, 62. 
Vaughn, William, 1836, 7. 
Vaughn, William M., 1863. 
Vernor, John, 1798. 
Viele, Asa, 1832. 
ViELE, Asaph, 1883, 5, 40, 2. 
Viele, Sidney, 1853, 4. 
voorce (q. voorhees ?), joseph, 

1803. 
Walker, David, 1843, 9, 55, 60. 
Walkup, Charles, 1857. 
WaLKUP, GrEORGE, 1833, 56, 61. 
Walkup, George B., 1862. 
Washburn, Robert, 1853, 4, 63. 
Weaver, Abraham, 1834, 5. 
Weaver, Jesse, 1846, 7. 
Weaver, Joseph, 1822. 
Weaver, Solomon, 1840. 
Weeks, Joseph, 1804, 14, 15, 26. 
Weidaway, Anthony, 1857. 
Wells, Benjamin, 1818, 23, 36, 

41* 
Wells, David, 1856. 
Wells, Henry, 1858, 65, 6, 7. 
Wells, Hiram, 1837, 42, 58, 9, 

60, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7. 



Wells, J^vmes, 1792, 9. 
Wells, Joel, 1886, 7, 42, 50, 62. 
Wells, Peter, 1816. 
Wells, Sylvester, 1861, 3. 
West, Ebenezer, 1839, 40, 6, 9, 

50,4, 5,; 61, 2, 6, 7. 
West, George P., 1818, 22. 
West, John P., 1834, 7, 40, 3. 
West, John V., 1825, 40. 
West, Thomas, 1817, 23, 4, 5, 6, 

32. 
West, William Barber, 1795, 6, 

7, 8, 1805, 8, 10, 12, 15, 17, 19, 
20, 1. 

Weston, John, 1813. 
Wheeler, D., 1867. 
Wheeler, F., 1864, 5, 6. 
Whipple, Archibald P., 1863. 
Whipple, J., 1818. 
Whitney, Daniel, 1840. 
Whittemore, George, 1846. 
Wicks, Edmund B., 1848. 
Wilber, Gilbert, 1848. 
Wilcox, Brazilla, 1869. 
WiLKiE, David, 1833, 49. 
WiLKiE, Elisha D., 1872. 
WiLKiE, Jacob, 1837, 41, 4, 5, 6, 

7,8,54,5,7,8. 
WiLKiE, James, 1858, 9, 61. 
WiLKiE, Martin, 1856. 
Williams, Barber, 1816, 21. 
Williams, Beriah, 1836. 
Williams, David, 1837, 40, 1, 2, 

6, 9, 50, 3, 4. 
Williams, Edwin, 1858. 
Williams, Lewis, 1847, 53, 5, 60, 

1,3. 
Williams, Warren, 1826, 35, 6. 
Wilson, J.ohn R., 1841. 
WiNCHip, Alvin, 1858, 9. 
WiNCHip, Ansel, 1824, 39, 42, 7, 

8, 56, 64, 5, 6. 

WiNCHip, Joel, 1796, 7, 1801, 22. 
WiNCHip, Joel, 1840, 2, 55, 6. 



100 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

WiNCHip, Joel Jr , 1814, 19, 32, 6. Winslow, John, 1799, 1801, 5, 6, 

WiNCHip, Joel P., 1860, 2. 8, 15. 

WiNCHip, John, 1812, 16, 20, 1, 4, Winslow, Thomas, 1814. 

5, 33, 7. Witherell, Bethuel, 1853, 64, 
Winchip, Eansom J.. 1846, 7, 73. 9, 70. 

Wing, Abraham, 1772, 3, 6, 80, 7, Witherell, Nathaniel, 1836, 9, 

8. 49, 50. 

Wing, Abraham Jr , 1788. Witherell, Seth, 1861, 3. 

Wing, Benjamin, 1768, 71, 5, 83, Wood, Amos, 1822. 

4. Wood, John, 1838, 40, 54. 

Wing, Edward, 1796. Wood, Maynard, 1869. 

Wing, Jeremiah, 1811. Wood, Philip, 1837, 42. 

Wing, Joseph, 1801. Wood, Walter, 1825, 42, 7, 52. 

Wing, Nehemiah, 1809. Woodward, Joel, 1819. 

Wing, Nehemiah, 1855, 8, 61, 2, Wooley, William, 1872, 3. 

6, 8, 70, 2, 3. Wright, Abraham, 1818. 
Wing, Richard, 1838, 9, 44, 61. Wright, Job, 1770. 
Wing, William, 1823. Yandle, George, 1838. 



CORPORATION OFFICERS, VILLAGE OF GLEN'S 

FALLS. 

PRESIDENTS OF BOARDS OF TRUSTEES. 

Benedict, Ezra, 1857. Conery, George, 1864. 

Briggs, William, 1845, 8. Cowles, Daniel H., 1859. 

Brown, Daniel V., 1861. Delong, Zopher I., 1863. 

Carpenter, Stevens, 1846. Ferguson, James, 1862, 6. 

Clark, James C, 1853. Ferriss, John A.,(a) 1839. 

(a) Sketch of the Life and Services op John Akin Ferriss. According 
to tlie statement of the late Mrs. Prouty, who was a grand-daugliter of the original 
proprietor of this name, as well as a cousin of the subject of this sketch, and 
who died last year at an advanced age, there were four brothers and two sisters 
of the name of Ferriss, who immigrated to this country from England, (another ac- 
count says from Wales), about the middle of the seventeenth century. A por- 
tion, if not all of them, settled at, or in the vicinity of the Oblong, in Dutchess 
county, who, in religious sympathy with nearly all the settlers of that region, 
were Quakers. 

The youngest of this large family of brothers and sisters, was Reed Ferriss, 
who died at Quaker Hill in Dutchess county, on one of the last days of March, 
1804, aged seventy-four years, which would carry the date of his birth back to 
1730.' He was an intimate friend of Abraham Wing, the founder of the first set- 
tlement and town of Queensbury, and early became interested, by purchase of a 
large tract, in the Queensbury patent. One of his lots laid upon the eastern 
borders of the town. The outlet of the big Cedar swamp (much larger then 

' Among the Winfj; manuscripts is a racmorandum to the effect that Reed Ferriss and Benjamin 
Ferriss jr., were witnesses to a deed in 1764. 



CIVIL LIST. 101 

FiCKETT, Henry E., 1858. Hawley, George G., 1849. 

Goodman, Stephen L., 1865. Higby, Richard W., 1850, 1, 2. 



than now) derived its name from liim and a large beaver meadow through which 
it ran, whence the early settlers in that neighborhood were wont to obtain their 
hay. This stream is specified in the early survey, and records, as Reed«'s meadow 
creek. He was also the purchaser or patentee of a township tract of land in 
Vermont, which in compliment to him was called Ferrisburg. He was also the 
proprietor of other lands at or in the neighborhood of Vergennes in Vermont. 
After the Revolutionary war he used to come up the river every season with great 
regularity to look after his interests in these several localities. The old Wing 
papers contain communications from him setting forth and showing the cordial 
relations and amity subsisting between him and the head of that family. 




had ten children, the eldest of whom, Edward, married for his first wife a Tabor, 
for his second Mary Akin, of whom the subject of this memoir was born, the 
seventeenth of October, 1772, at the Oblong, in Dutchess county. He learned the 
trade of a hatter, and removed to Glen's Falls, about the year 1794. At that time 
he had about five hundred dollars in hard cash, which, for those days was con- 
sidered a large sum ; and as many, probably most of the residents of the town 
were then what is significantly called '• land poor," he was offered, in ex- 
change for that sum, great lot number twenty-nine of the original survey, now 
embracing the most thickly settled and valuable portion of the village of Glen's 
Falls, and the offer was declined. 

Soon after his arrival at Glen's Falls he bought the lot next north of the 
Glen's Falls Insurance building, on the back part of which he erected a hat 
shop where he carried on business, for a number of years. Subsequently he 
erected two one and a half story framed buildings on the site of S. D. Hopkins 
and Z. I. DeLong & Son's stores, where the same business was carried on 
by him as late as 1838. He was a man of very considerable push and energy, 
and contributed largely toward giving an impetus to the early growth and 
development of the village. In 1798,' he erected as a tavern, the dwelling house 
now occupied by A. Newton Locke In 1802, he commenced the old Glen's 
Falls Hotel, occupying the present site of the Rockwell house. This inn after- 
wards became a great success and popular resort under the administration and 
management of the late Peter D. Threehouse. A year or two later he diverted the 
springs of water and the rivulet flowing therefrom, which then existed in the 
side hill now covered by the Glen's Falls Opera house, into a shallow reservoir, 
making a fish pond of the same on the flat in the rear of Albert Vermillia's 
market building. This for quite a period was one of the attractions and curiosi- 
ties of the village. Early in the century also he erected the long known structure, 
which occupied the ground where Mrs. Ferguson's variety store, and the row of 
groceries and saloons below it now stand. This was subsequently variously 
designated as Ferriss' row the Tontine, the long row, hemlock row, and Mc- 
Gregor's row. This, after various vicissitudes, mishaps and repairs, was burnt 
down in 1856, the fire being the work of an incendiary. 

He married first, about the year 1796, Parthenia, daughter of Doctor Seth Alden, 
a biographical sketch of whom may be seen elsewhere in this work. She died in 



1 In this year there is an entrj; in the town records to the effect that John A. Ferriss was allowed 
eight dollars and a half for services done on the bridge at Glen's Falls. 



102 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

Johnson, Frederick A. Jr., 1870. McEachron, William, 1872. 
Keenan, John, (a) 1871. Mead, Joseph, 1869. 

Lapham, Jerome, 1867. Morgan, Alonzo W., 1854. 



the year 1800, aged twenty-three. For his second wife, he married her sister 
Hannah, as appears by the docket of the late Judge Roberts on the 21st of Sep- 
tember, 1803. Slie was born the 15th of May, 1779, and surviving her husband, 
died at an advanced age on the fifth of November, 1865, at the family home- 
stead in Glen's Falls. 

John A. Ferriss was a leading business man, an ardent and influential politi- 
cian, a man whose public spirit, foresight and sagacity placed at least a full 
generation in advance of the age in which he lived. As may be been by the 
official record, he was the first postmaster appointed at Glen's Falls. At that 
time he carried on business in the old corner store on the site now covered by 
Pearsall and Cooledge's clothing establishment, the post office occupying a small 
corner of the building. His second appointment was the result of a town meeting 
as appears by the following preamble and resolutions, which were entered on 
record in the town clerk's office, but some malicious and evil disposed person cut 
it out of the record book, together with many pages of the official records of town 
meetings, and other entries important to retain. The original document still 
remains on file. 

" Whereas a base and shameful attack has lately been made upon the character 
of his excellency DeWitt Clinton, governor of this state, by a series of publica- 
tions in a certain paper called the National Advocate, edited by M. M. Noah, and 
whereas, it appears conclusively that Adonijah Emons has been a principal actor 
in fabricating and furnishing for publication the scandalous falsehoods which 
have been resorted to, to support that attack, and whereas from the general 
character and conduct of the said Emons we believe him wholly destitute of in- 
tegrity, honor or moral worth, and unfit and unworthy to be trusted in any office. 

Mesolved, Therefore, by the people of -the town of Queensbury in town meeting 
assembled, that the said Adonijah Emons ought to be removed from the office of 
postmaster in said town, that the security of the public mail, and the honor and 
interest of the town will be promoted by such removal, and the reappointment of 
the former postmaster John A. Ferriss in whom we have full confidence. 

Mesolved, That the supervisor and town clerk cause a certified copy of this reso- 
lution to be forwarded to the post master general." 

Truly the asperities, and brutal antagonisms of modern politics, were quite 
equalled by the sliarp animosities of those early days ! 

Mr. Ferriss was a man of great liberality, contributing freely of his means and 
efforts to every worthy public enterprise. Exemplary in his private life, up- 
right and honorable in his business and social relations, he commanded the 
good will and respect of all who knew him. He died at Glen's Falls on the eighth 
of September, 1840, and was buried in the faniily enclosure, in the old burial 
ground at Moss street, in the town of Kingsbury, N. Y. 




(a) John Keenan, the son of Robert and Anne (Logan) Keenan, was born in the 
town of Leitrim near Castle Dawson, in the county Derry, Ireland, on the eleventh 
of November, 1809, being the, youngest of a family of nine children. He was 
brought u]i according to the faith of his forefathers in the strictest tenets of the 
Roman Catholic religion. With less inclination for study, than for the wild and 



CIVIL LIST. 



103 



Palmeter, James, 1840. 
Peck, Daniel, 1868. 
Roberts, Hiram, 1860. 
RosEKRANS, Enoch H., 1855. 
ScHENCK, James W., 1856. 



Sheldon, Melville A., 1873. 
Spencer, Henry, 1841, 2, 4. 
Tallmadge, Samuel S., 1843. 
Wing, Abraham, 1847. 



TRUSTEES. 



Benedict, Ezra, 1850, 1, 7. 
Briggs, William, 1845, 6, 8, 57. 
Bronson, Erastus, 1840, 1. 
Bronson, William C, 1843. 
Brown, Daniel V., 1850, 1, 2, 61. 
Brown, Daniel V., 1869. 
Burnham, Cyrus, 1844. 
Buswell, James, 1853. 
Cadwell, James E., 1857. 
Cameron, Charles R., 1866, 8. 
Carpenter, Stevens, 1846. 
Cheney, Albert N., 1846. 



Clark, James C, 1848, 53. 
Coffin, Thomas, 1845. 

CONERY, GrEORGE, 1861, 2, 4, 8. 

Cool, Joseph B., 1855. 
Cool, Keyes P., 1840. 
Cooledge, Thomas S., 1870. 
CosGROVE, William, 1868. 
CowLEs, Daniel H., 1853, 9. 

CrONKHITE, GrEORGE, 1839, 44. 

Cronkhite, William, 1858. 
Crosby, Enos C, 1847. 
Dean, David M., 1843, 8. 



exciting pastimes of youth, be can hardly be said to have availed himself of all 
the educational advantages within bis reach. Possessing a strong love of adven- 
ture, and an indomitable will, he bad but barely passed his majority, when he put 
in execution a long cherished desire to visit the new world, and having made his 
preparations therefor, sailed from Belfast, on the ninth of April, 1831. After a 
stormy passage of forty days, be landed in Quebec ; proceeding from there direct 
to Swanton Falls, Vt., at which place he remained about a year, removing the 
following spring to Kingsbury, N. Y., where he resided for several years. 

In 1838, he embarked in the manufacture of lime in company with Martin Ryan. 
At the end of three years this company was dissolved, and another formed, in 
which Harvey and Israel Smith were taken as partners, and a store of general 
merchandise added to the business. In 1843, this connection was dissolved, and 
Mr. Keenan continued the business alone. In 1847, he removed to Queensbury, 
still continuing his manufacture of lime at the kilns between Glen's Falls and 
Sandy Hill. For a short time, E. H. Rosekrans, and Eleazer S. Vaughn were in- 
terested as partners. In 1851 their connection with the concern terminated. The 
same year he entered into partnership with the late H. R. Wing, and founded the 
Jointa Lime Company, to which, after a successful existence of eight years, Mr. 
L. G. McDonald was added, and shortly afterward the extensive lime and trans- 
portation business of the Cool brothers was purchased. Of the latter interest, 
under the name of the Glen's Falls Transportation Company, Mr. Keenan was 
elected president, a position he held for a number of years. Something like ten 
years of great prosperity and success followed tbis combination, conferring wealth 
on all concerned. 

By reason of Mr. Wing's death, which occurred in 1870, the firm finally, 
after an attempt to carry out his wishes, in continuing the business the same 



104 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

Belong, Theodore S., 1869. Holman, Dewitt C, 1865. 

Delong, Zopher I., 1862, 3, 73. Holman, Ezekiel, 1846. 

Eastwood, Martin, 1850. Hoskins, William, 1864. 

Ellis, Enoch, 1842. Hotchkiss, Theodore, 1870. 

Ferguson, Henry, 1844, 50, 1, 2. Hubbard, Edwin, 1855. 

Ferguson, James, 1858, 61, 2, 6. Johnson, Frederick A. Jr., 1870. 

Ferriss, John A., 1839. Keeepe, Daniel F., 1869. 

Fickett, Henry E., 1858. Keenan, John, 1863, 6, 71, 2. 

Finch, James C, 1856. Kenworthy, John L., 1853. 

Goodman, Stephen L., 1865. Kipp, Ruliff, 1854, 70. 

Goodspeed, Stephen, 1842. Knapp, Isaac, 1849. 

Gray, Enoch, 1860. Krum, Hiram, 1863. 

Green, Joel B., 1868, 6. Lapham, Benjamin F., 1865. 

Harris, Hiram M., 1871, 2. Lapham, Henry G., 1873. 

Hawley, George G., 1849, 54. Lapham, Jerome, 1851, 7, 71, 2. 

HiGBY, John C, 1847. Leavins, Harmon R., 1869, 71, 2. 

HiGBY, Richard W., 1849, 50, 1, 2. Lewis, Gardiner T., 1863. 

Hitchcock, Alfred, 1858. Little, Meredith B., 1865, 73. 

Hitchcock, Dwight, (a) 1841, 2. Locke, Ira, 1855. 



as though lie were living, was broken up and Mr. McDonald, with others, 
bought out the establishment. Since this period Mr. Keenan has retired from the 
manufacturing business, but the wonderful energy and industry of the man still 
keeps him busily engaged in the activities of life. During all the years of his 
residence here, Mr. Keenan has conspicuously identified himself with all measures 
looking towards public improvement and reform. He was among the first to 
urge the great advantages which would accrue to our village from the construc- 
tion of a railroad here. After many political struggles, and the greatest of oppo- 
sition from some of the inhabitants of the village and town, he succeeded in 
fighting a bill through the legislature in its favor and secured the construction of 
the road. From its inception to its completion, he was one of the heaviest stock 
holders, and president of its board of directors. He also assisted largely in securing 
to the village its present admirable system of water works, obtaining with others 
the passage of an act of legislature authorizing their construction. It was during 
this period that he acted as president of the board of village trustees. 

In 1848, he married Miss Anne O'Connor, daughter of Patrick O'Connor of 
Kingsbury. Seven children, four girls and three boys, are the fruit of this union. 

Mr. Keenan is a positive man, of strong good sense, warm attachments, and 
marked antipathies ; resolute and thorough going in what he undt-rtakes ; and 
whose influence, both politically and socially, is widely felt. An ardent democrat, 
and avowed opponent of corruption, both his public career, and private life, have 
been consistent, exemplary and conservative of the general welfare. Having 
amassed a handsome fortune in the legitimate avenues of honest industry, it is to 
be hoped that he may be spared many years of a hale and vigorous old age, to 
enjoy the fruits of his early toil and labor. 

(a) Dwight, son of Dr. Jared Hitchcock, of whom a sketch is given elsewhere 
in this work, was born in Massachusetts, on the Uth of September, 1805, came 
with his lather to Glen's Falls in 1819; in 1833, in copartnership with J. Q. 
Spencer, bought out the stock of merchandise belonging to George G. Sickles, in 




Ensravins; Process. S4r, Broa,1w«y. ^. T, 



CIVIL LIST. 



105 



McDonald, Leonard G-., 1857. 
McDonald, Willtaji, 1843. 
McEachron, William, 1867, 71, 

2. 
McNeil, Donald, 1847. 
Mead, Joseph, 1867, 9. 
Morgan, Alonzo W., 1841, 8, 54, 

70. 
Mott, Isaac, 1859. 
Nesbitt, Henry, 1868. 
NORRISS, JosiAH, 1849. 
Norton, George, 1861, 2. 
NuMAN, Daniel, 1861. 2. 
Palmeter, James, 1840. 
Peck, Bethuel, 1843. 
Peck, Charles, 1848. 
Peck, Daniel, 1864, 7, 8. 
Peck, William, 1845, 9. 
Phelps, Walter Jr., 1858. 
Rich, Marquis C, 1859, 60. 
RoBBiNS, Calvin, 1839. 
Roberts, David, 1840, 1. 
Roberts, David Gt., 1845, 66. 



Roberts, Hiram, 1856, 60, 4. 
Robinson, Frederic W., 1854. 
Rosekrans Enoch H., 1855. 
Schenck, James W., 1852, 6. 
Shaw, Nathaniel, 1846. 
Shaw, Nehemiah, 1847. 
Sheldon, MelVille A., 1873. 

ShIPPEY, GrEORGE, 1856. 

Sisson, George W., 1865. 
SissoN, James, 1889, 44, 5, 52, 6. 
Somers, John, 1854. . 
Spencer, Henry, 1841, 2, 4. 
Starbuck, Benjamin C, 1855. 
Tallmadge, Samuel S., 1843. 
Tearse, Archibald C, 1857, 9, 

60, 4, 7. 
Thompson, Berry, 1842. 
TiLLOTsoN, George J., 1853. 
Wait, William, 1873. 
Wells, James, 1840. 
Wilmarth, Martin L., 1859, 60. 
Wilson, John W., 1839. 
Wing, Abraham, 1847. 



the stone store under the hill ; and in the month of September followiog, the 
stock of goods in Thomas Cotton's store, consisting of dry goods, groceries, iron, 
steel and stoves. The two were immerged in one, in the old wooden building so 
often referred to, which stood on the south-east corner of Warren and Glen streets. 
Soon afterwards he bouglit out Spencer's interest and continued business alone in 
that locality imtil about the year 1840. Along about the year 1834, by the aid of 
means kindly and voluntarily furnished by the late Sidney Berry, he commenced 
operations in wood and lumber, which being successful were extended from time 
to time until the export of wood for the supply of the Hudson river steamboats 
finally stripped our pine plains of their verdant covering. In 1835 he had an in- 
terest in the first lot of logs driven down the Sacandaga river from the town of 
Edinburgh. In 1886-7 he owned a share in the first saw logs driven down the 
Schroon river from West Moriah to Glen's Falls. In 1846 he established a steam 
foundry on Warren street which continued in successful operation for several 
years. This was disposed of about the year 1853, to Stephen Goodspeed. Mr. 
Hitchcock's next enterprise was the purchase of a slate ledge in the vicinity of 
Castleton, Vt. In the development of this purchase he removed to Syracuse, N. Y. 
where he now resides, and where he embarked in the slate roofing business, a 
pursuit that he still follows. He married February 10th, 1836, Jane M., daughter of 
the late Dilwin Gardner, by whom he has had six children, four daughters and 
two sons, all living. The following year he erected the brick house occupying 
the site next west of the Methodist church, where that denomination contemplates 
erecting a parsonage. This buikUng was utterly destroyed, with nearly all its 
contents, in the great conflagration of 1864. 
14 



106 



HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 



COEPORATION ASSESSORS. 



Arms, Lewis L., 1848. 
Bailey, Loudoun, 1852. 
Benedict, Daniel, 1859, 61. 
Benedict, Ezra, 1852. 
Briqgs, William, 1847, 51. 
BuLLARD, James P., 1857. 
Carpenter, Ira C, 1865. 
Carpenter, Stevens, 1867, 70. 
Cheesebrouqh, Henry E., 1866, 

8, 9, 73. 
Cheney, George W., 1860. 
Coffin, Martin, 1856. 
CowLES, Daniel H., 1842, 53. 
Dean, David M., 1841, 2, 5, 6. 
Dix, Samuel B., 1863, 4. 
Eastwood, Martin, 1849, 55. 
Ellis, Enoch, 1859. 
Fairbanks, Jonathan W., 1845. 
Ferguson, Henry, 1839, 40, 3, 4, 

60. 
Ferriss, Benjamin, 1854. 
Fisher, Alfred, 1841, 5. 
Fonda, William A., 1858. 

GrAYGER, WiLLIAM H., 1855. 

Harris, Albert T., 1854. 
Hawley, George G., 1859. 
Hiokson, Alfred, 1854. 
Hitchcock, Dwight, 1839, 40, 3. 
Holley, Hiram, 1867. 
Johnson, Frederic A., 1841. 
Ketchum, Daniel B., 1870, 1, 2. 



Kipp, RuLiPF, 1865, 7. 
Locke, Ira, 1849, 57, 8, 60, 1. 
Mead, Joseph, 1861, 2, 3, 4. 
Morgan, Alonzo W., 1844, 7, 8, 

63. 
MoTT, Zebulon W., 1850. 
NoRRiss, Daniel G., 1853. 
Norton, George, 1855, 66, 8, 9, 

70, 1, 2, 3. 
Palmeter, James, 1839. 
Parsons, Elnathan, 1857. 
Peck, Charles, 1856. 
Peck, William, 1850, 1,2. 
Potter, John E., 1873. 
Pratt, William, 1859, 64. 
Bobbins, Calvin, 1843. 
Roberts, David, 1846. 
Roberts, Hiram, 1862, 3. 
Robinson, William, 1850, 1. 
Rockwell, Charles, 1847. 
Sanford, George, 1840. 
Sands, George, 1862. 
Sprague, Merritt, 1856. 
Thompson, John S., 1866, 8. 
Tillqtson, George, 1865. 
Vantassel, Hermon, 1846. 
Wait, William, 1871, 2. 
Wilmarth, Martin L., 1869. 
Wing, Abraham, 1844. 
Wing, Henry, 1858. 



CORPORATION CLERKS. 



Armstrong, Adam Jr., 1868. 
Carpenter, Alvin R., 1869. 



Cheney, George W., 1865. 
Davis, Isaac J., (a) 1856, 9, 60. 



(a) Isaac Andkew Jackson Davis was born at Castleton, Vt., on the 5th of 
October, 1831. Hia parents, Isaac and Aurelia (Parsons) Davis, were at the time 
visitinor tlieir friends in the above named i)lace, being then residents of the town 
of Johnsburgh. They subsequently moved to Schroon and when the subject of this 



CIVIL LIST. 107 

Fennel, A. Hackley, 1867. Peck, Charles, 1844, 5. 

Ferriss, Orange, (a), 1839, 40, 1, Ferine, Joseph S., 1855. 

2. Perrin, Ira A., 1843. 

Harris, Emery D., 1861, 2, 3, 4, 6. Ranger, Frederic E., 1857. 

Hay, Henry C, 1858. Sheldon, John A., 1870, 1, 2, 3. 

MoTT, Isaac, 1849, 50, 1, 2, 3, 4. Wilson, Allen T., 1846, 7, 8. 



sketcla was about five years of age went back to Vermont. His early education was 
received in the very excellent common schools of that state, supplemented by three 
terms at tlie Troy Conference Academy in Poultney, Vt. After this he came to Glen's 
Falls, and in 1851 commenced reading law in the office of Levi Hooker Baldwin of 
this village. He taught a common school the winter following and in the spring 
renewed his legal studies with Henry B. Northup, Esq., of Sandy Hill, in whose 
office he remained a year. He then returned to Glen's Falls, and finished liis studies 
in Baldwin's office. He was admitted to the bar in 1853, and immediately opened 
an office in the old long row, where he remained until the destruction of that 
building by fire in 1856. From 1854 to '57 he held a law partnership with the 
late Halsey R. Wing, Esq., at the termination of which, the latter retired from 
practice altogether. He was the democratic candidate in 1859 for district attorney, 
and in 1863 for senator, was defeated, although running ahead of his ticket in both 
instances. As shown by the record he has served as corporation clerk, and was 
elected in 1871 as county judge by ninety-five majority, while the county properly 
had a republican majority of nearly a thousand. 

He married first, Philomelia Aylesworth Gray of Arlington, Vt., on the 8th of 
January, 1857. She died s. p. March 4th, 1860. 

He married his second wife, Catharine M. Williams, of Schuylerville, N. Y., on 
the 2d of January, 1865. 

Judge Davis possesses in remarkable degree the elements which go to make a 
successful lawyer. 

Possessing a wonderful memory, ready utterance, rare oratorical powers, affiible 
demeanor and obliging disposition, he has few equals and no superiors in his own 
vicinity either on the bench or rostrum or at the bar ; while his great erudition in 
his profession and the rich plentitude of his mental resources, render his advice 
valuable and his opinions greatly sought. Yet in the noontide glory of his splen- 
did intellect and munificent powers, the future is still open before him in a long 
and brilliant vista of triumphant success, and professional achievements. 

(a) Orange Ferriss, son of John A. and Hannah (Alden) Ferriss, was born at 
Glen's Falls on the 26th of November, 1814. His elementary education was obtained 
chiefiy at the old academy, which stood on the site of Mr. Jerome Lapham's newly 
built residence on Ridge street.' His collegiate course was pursued at the Uni- 
versity of Vermont, which institution conferred upon him the honorary degree of 
A.M., in 1868. 
He studied law in the office of the Hon. William Hay,' of this village, having 

^This building has undergone many vicissitudes. It was built in 1814, bv John A. B'erriss for 
use as a public school, and was afterwards incorporated by special statute under the name of 
the Glen's Falls High School. Here Abraham Wilson, Harvey B. Dodge, Benjamin Ela, Solo- 
mon Goodrich, Hicks and ot ers have taught the young idea how to shoot. A private school was 
kept here as lately as 18:38, or 9, by Obadiah Alma who resided and taught, and finally was 
taken sick about the year 1840. and died in the building. After the erection of the Glen's Falls 
Academy in 1840, it was used as a dwelling for a number of years. Subsequent to the great fire 
in 1864, it was moved down to the centre of the village to the site now covered by Kennedy's 
shoe store, where Messrs. DeLong & S( n continued the hardware business until their new 
and spacious brick storr on Glen street was completed. It was then sold to Messrs. Joubert & 
White, and moved down to the corner of .lay and Warren streets, where it now stands, having 
been overhauled and converted to the purposes of a carriage shop. 



108 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OP QUEENSBURY. 



VILLAGE TEEASURERS. 

Bassingee, George H., 1868, 9. Peck, Charles, 1846, 7, 8, 9, 50, 
Benedict, Ezra, 1861, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 3. 

Brown, Daniel V., 1866, 7 Peck, Daniel, 1854, 5, 6. 

Ferguson, George, 1857, 8, 9,60. Peck, William, 1839, 40,1, 2,3,4. 

Greenslet, George B., 1870, 1, Roberts, Hiram, 1845. 

2, 3. Wait, William A., 1865. 



for fellow students tlie late Alfred C. Farlin, Esq., Allen T. Willson, and tlie 
author of this work. He was admitted to the bar in 1840, and the following year 
w^s appointed surrogate of the county by Governor Seward, in which position he 
served for four years. In 1845, he was the standard bearer of the whig party, in 
the canvass for assemblyman, but was defeated, the county being largely demo- 
cratic. The late Winfield Scott Sherwood, was his sucessful competitor. 

In 1851, he was elected county judge and surrogate, by a majority of more than 
two hundred over his democratic opponent, while the remainder of the democratic 
ticket had five hundred majority. He was reelected judge and surrogate in 1855, 
and again in 1859, thus serving in that capacity for twelve consecutive years, 
a tolerably conclusive evidence that his services were satisfactory to his con- 
stituents. 

In February, 1865, he received the appointment of provost marshal for the 16th 
congressional district but declined to serve, and A. -J. Cheritree was appointed in 
his stead. 

In 1866, he was elected by a handsome majority to represent the game district in 
the fortieth congress, and was reelected the succeeding term. He served with 
great distinction in these two bodies, being appointed and acting on the commit- 
tees for the revision of laws, mines and mining, coinage, and weights and mea- 
sures. He opposed the purchase of Alaska, and made an able and exhaustive 
speech in the house against the acquisition of that territory. He favored the im- 
peachment of President Johnson, and delivered one of the most earnest and effec- 
tive speeches in support of this movement on the 2d of March, 1868. The closing 
paragraph of that memorable address, embodied in the following quotation, exhi- 
bits the earnestness and eloquence of his appeal, and his hearty sympathy with 
the radical Puritan stock from which he derives his descent.' 

" The contest in our country has been between republican ideas on one side and 
aristocracy on the other, the pilgrims and the cavaliers. Jamestown typifies the 
one, and the Plymouth rock the other. Weeds and thistles have overgrown the site 
of the first settlement on the banks of the James, but Plymouth rock remains ; 
and ages after the waves of the ocean shall have worn away the last vestige of 
that rock tlie free civilization and social ideas of New England will be doing 
their work of Christianizing the races, and inculcating a love for liberty which is 
as broad in its philanthropy as the universe, and knows no distinction of race or 

color."" 

On the 3d of March, 1871, just at the close of his congressional labors for the 
second term, an act was passed creating a board for ascertaining and determining the 



i 



> See biographical sketches of his father John Akin Ferriss, and his maternal grandfather Dr. 
Scth Aldon. 
■■i This article is compiled in part from a work entitled The Farfieth Conr/ress. 




5'G-EPeriiieKi"'^'''- 



C^'-m^'j^ 



:g-e ferriss, 

5 FROM NETWTDRK- 



"OR BARNES' HIST 



CIVIL LIST. 



109 



VILLAGE 

AcKLEY, Thomas, 1863. 
Allen, Avery, 1869. 
Allen, King, 1850, 1. 
BiTLEY, Melville, 1860, 
Briggs, Jabez, 1865. 
Brown, Clark J., 1866. 
Brown, George, 1873. 
Coffin, Martin, 1840. 
Cronkhite, James L., 1864. 
.Crossett, William., 1845, 7. 
Darby, Joseph, 1857. 
Eastwood, Julius C, 1867. 
Ellis, Enoch, 1841. 



COLLECTORS. 

Ellis, Zabina, 1842, 6. 
Green, Ira, 1839. 
Hall, Hilman A., 1856. 
Kenworthy, John L. Jr., 1870. 
Knapp, Reuben W., 1852. 
Peirsons, Samuel B., 1858, 9, 61, 

2. 
Pratt, B. P., 1844. 
Robinson, William, 1843. 

SCOFIELD, WiLLETT, 1848, 9. 

Smith, Walter Jr., 1853, 4, 5. 
TiLLOTSON, John C, 1868. 
, Whitney, StowellB., 1871, 2. 



VILLAGE CONSTABLES. 



AcKLEY, Thomas, 1863. 4. 
Allen, Avery, 1869, 70, 1, 2, 3. 
Allen, King, 1850, 1. 
Allen, Warren, 1873. 
Bitley, Melville, 1860. 
Briggs, Jabez, 1865, 7, 71, 2. 
Coffin, Martin, 1840. 
Crossett, William, 1845. 
Darby, Joseph, 1858. 
Ellis, Enoch, 1841. 
Ellis, Zabina, 1842, 6, 7. 



Green, Hazard, 1839. 
Harrigan, Dennis, 1871. 
Knapp, Reuben W., 1852. 
Peirsons, Samuel B.,1859, 61,2. 
Pratt, B. P., 1844. 
Pratt, William, 1857. 
Robinson, William, 1843. 
ScoFiELD, Willett, 1848, 9. 
Smith, Walter Jr., 1853, 4, 5, 6. 
TiLLOTSON, John C, 1868. 
Wright, John D., 1866, 9. 



claims of loyal southerners for losses suffered during the rebellion. The board was 
to consist of three members to be desipfnated as commissioners of claims. To this 
important and responsible position J udge Ferriss was nominated by the president, 
and appointed by and with the advice and consent of the senate. Its duties in- 
volve an amount of investigation and research requiring in eminent degree the 
patient application and laborious, faithful industry which Judge Ferris has 
brought to the work. He was reappointed March 10th, 1873, for four years, a 
gratifying and complimentary testimonial to his integrity and incorruptibility. 

During a long public life, and the fierce collisions of hot partisan strife, J iidge Fer- 
riss has retained an unwonted popularity, and the good will, respect and esteem of 
all parties and shades of political opinion. Like Ca?sar's wife he is above suspicion, 
and in a corrupt age, and surrounded by demoralizing partisan influences, he has 
escaped from the seething caldron of political contamination with clean hands and 
a pure heart. 



110 



HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 



POUND MASTERS. 



Bentlet, Layton, 1850. 
BiBBEY, Benjamin, 1853, 4. 
Carpenter, J. Sullivan, 1857. 
CoNERY, Solomon, 1844, 5. 
Corey, Chester, 1851. 
Corey, G-ardner M., 1843. 
Cox, Robert, 1866, 8, 9, 70, 1, 2, 

3. 
Green, John, 1859, 60, 1. 
G-uyette, Moses, 1852. 



Harrison, Timothy S., 1846. 
JouBERT, Edward, 1863. 
Kelley, James F., 1856. 
Ogden, Zina, 1842. 
Potter, John E. 2d, 1867. 
Sanpord, David B., 1862. 
Sisson, James, 1841. 
Stevens, William, 1839. 
Stone, Vincent, 1847. 
Wright, John D., 1855, 8, 64, 5. 



FIRE WARDENS. 



Briggs, William, 1854, 5, 6. 
Brown, Daniel V., 1859. 
Burnham, Cyrus, 1849. 
Byrne, Frank, 1861, 2, 8, 9. 
Cheney, Albert N., 1857. 
Clark, James C, 1858, 65. 
CoLviN, Hiram K., 1863. 
Corbett, John, 1868, 9, 71, 2. 
Corliss, Charles, 1856. 
Cowles,WillardB., 1860. 
Gallup, Benjamin, 1864. 
Hamilton, Lewis C , 1854, 5, 7, 

8, 60, 5, 70. 
Haverty, John, 1873. 
Hawley George G., 1842. 
Hawley, George K., 1871, 2. 
Higby, Richard W., 1854,5, 7. 
Hitchcock, Dwight, 1842. 
HosKiNS, William, 1863, 



Ketchum, Daniel B., 1870. 
Lapham, Benjamin F., 1859, 60, 

7, 70. 
Leavins, Jeremy R., 1867. 
Mead, Joseph, 1866. 
Morgan, Alonzo W., 1842, 9, 58. 
NoRRis, JosiAH H., 1865. 
Pike, Aaron F., 1871, 2, 3. 
Putnam, Edward, 1867. 
Roberts, Hiram, 1859. 
Rosekrans, Enoch H., 1849. 
Sands, George, 1863. 
Sanford, David B., 1856, 61, 2,4. 
Spicer, Henry D., 1864, 8, 9, 73. 
Starbuck, Stephen, 1861, 2. 
Thompson, Berry, 1842. 
Wilmarth, Martin L., 1866. 
Wright, John D., 1866. 



STREET COMMISSIONERS. 



Allen, Avery, 1867, 70 
Boyd, Rufus, 1860. 
Briggs, Jabez, 1856, 9. 



Brown, Richard T., 1863. 
Coleman, Gales, 1865. 
Daggett, Jacob, 1857. 



CIVIL LIST. 



Ill 



Darby, Joseph, 1861, 2. 
Johnson, Frederick A., 1854. 
Norton, George, 1864. 
O'CoNNER, Dennis, 1868. 
Philo, Henry, 1856. 



Thompson, John S., 1866. 
TiLLOTsoN, John C, 1869. 
Vanderheyden, George W., 1871, 

2, 3. 
Wright, John D., 1858. 



DIRECTORS PUBLIC LIBRARY. 



Benedict, Ezra, 1854, 5, 6, 7. 
BoLLES, George F., 1864, 5, 6. 
Briggs, William, 1854, 5, 6. 
Bullard, David H., 1870, 1, 2,3. 
Butler, Benjamin C, 1851, 2, 8. 
Davis, Isaac J., 1862, 3, 4. 
Holden, Austin W., 1857, 8, 9, 

60, 1, 2, 9, 70, 1, 2, 3. 
Jackman, Samuel p., 1859, 60, 1. 



Keenan, J. Robert, 1869. 
Little, Meredith B., 1858, 9, 60. 
Platt, Myron, 1855, 6, 7. 
Potter, Thomas, 1869, 70, 1, 2,3. 
Roberts, Hiram, 1861, 2, 3. 
Wait, William A., 1863, 4, 5. 
Walker, Jason F., 1851, 2, 3. 
Wing, Halsey R., 1851, 2, 3, 4. 



HEALTH OFFICERS. 



Chapin, F. L. R., 1869. 
Ferguson, James, 1863. 
Holden, Austin W., 1871, 2, 3. 
McNiel, Donald, 1849. 



Peck, Marvin R., 1861, 2, 5, 7. 
Sternberg, A. Irving, 1864, 6. 
Streeter, Buel G., 1870. 



BOARD OF HEx\LTH. 



Benedict, Ezra, 1861, 2. 
burnham, josiah, 1866. 
Cameron, Charles R., 1871, 2, 3. 
Chapin, F. L. R., 1868. 
Conery, George, 1863, 9. 
Crittendon, Horace S., 1869. 
Cronkhite, George, 1861. 
Cronkhite, William, 1867. 
Dean, David M., 1849. 
Delong, Zopher I., 1864, 6. 
FiCKETT, Henry E., 1861, 2. 
Finch, Jeremiah W., 1866. 
Harris, Hiram M., 1869. 
Hubbard, Edwin, 1863, 4. 



Johnson, Frederick A., 1871, 2, 

3. 
Keenan. John, 1868. 
Knapp, Isaac J., 1849. 
Lasher, Rufus, 1873. 
Lapham, Benjamin F., 1871, 2, 3. 
Little, Meredith B., 1867, 71, 2. 
Millington, Stokes P., 1867. 
Pardo, George, 1869. 
Roberts, David G., 1861, 2, 8, 4, 

8. 
Spencer, Henry, 1849. 
Weeks, Henry, 1866. 
Wilmarth, Martin L., 1861, 7. 



112 



HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY 



SUPERINTENDENT OF CEMETERY. 
Barnes, Linus B., 1856, to '68. 

SEXTON OF CEMETERY. 

Doty, William, 1868, to 74, now Johnson, Patrick, 1855 to 61. 
acting. Orr, Alexander Jr., 1861, to 'i 



LIST OF PRACTICING ATTORNEYS. 



Abbott, A. B. 
Armstrong, Adam. 
Baldwin, Levi H. 
Baldwin, Seth C. 
Barton, Hiram. 
Beach, William A. 
Bentley, John A. 
Brown, Stephen. 
Brougham, R. T. 
Buell, Horatio. 
Butler, Benjamin C. 
Cheritree, Andrew J. 
Clark, Asahel. 
Clark, Orville. 
Cowan, Patrick. 
Cronkhite, Edgar. 
CuRTENius, Frederic C. 
CuRTENius, John L. 
Davis, Isaac J. 
Ellsworth, Judiah. 
Emmons, Adonijah. 
Farlin, Alfred C. 
Ferriss, Orange. 
Geer, Asahel C. 
Harris. Emery. 
Hay, Henry C. 



Hay, William. 
Henderson, James. 
Howard, Henry A. 
Keeppe, Daniel F. 
Martindale, Henry C. 
Mastin, James M. 
Metcalf, William. 
Mott, Charles M. 
Mott, Isaac. 
Mott, John 0. 
Paddock, Franklin A. 
Paddock, Ira A. 
Paris, Uriah Gt. 
Ferine, Joseph S. 
Ferine, Melancthon W. 
Perrin, Ira A. 
RiGGS, Edward. 
Rosekrans, Enoch H. 
Sheldon, Melville A. 
Thompson, Lemon. 
Vandenburgh, Abraham L., 
Van Kleeck, Lawrence I. 
Welch, Theodore. 
Wilkinson, Robert. 
WiLLSON, Allen T. 
Wing, Halsey R. 



CIVIL LIST. 



113 



LIST OF PRACTICINa PHYSICIANS. 



Alden, Seth. 
Amer, William. 
Amiden, a. 0. 
Baldwin, Israel P. 
BucKBEE, Israel I. 
Bullard, David H. 
Carpenter, Henry H. 
Chapin, F. L. R. 
Clark, Billy J. 
Cromwell, James. 
Cromwell, Philip. 
CusHiNG, Mark A. 
Davis, Asher A. 
Eddy, R. J. 
Edmonds, Danporth. 
Ferguson, James. 
Gazley, John. 
Hall. 
Hitchcock, Jared. (a) 



Hoffman, Hermon. 
HoLDEN, Austin W. 
Holley, S. F. 
Jenkins, Samuel. 
Kaynor, D. p. 
Leach. 

littlefield, marshal s. 
Little, George W. 
McAllister, Archibald. 
McAllister, J. 
McNeil, Donald B. 
MoTT, Walter S. 
North, Nathan. 

OSMAN, J. S. 

Paine, Lemuel C. 
Patterson, Frank. 
Patterson, James H. 
Peck, Bethuel. (6) 
Perrigo, John. 



(a) Jared Hitchcock, son of Elijah and Sarah Hitchcock, was born in the town of 
Palmer, Massachusetts, on the 11th of August, 1778. His elementary and profes- 
sional education were olrtaiued in that state, where, as the writer has been informed, 
he also received the degree of doctor of medicine,and practiced for a number of years. 
He removed to GHen's Falls in the mouth of November, 1819. The following year 
his wife was thrown from a wagon near the residence of Truman Hamlin in the 
town of Moreau, and killed. By her he had four children. He married for hia 
second wife Caroline Stickney who bore him six children. In 1821, he removed 
to Sandy Hill, N. Y., and from thence in 1828 to Galway, Saratoga county. 
He afterward went to West Troy, and thence in 1840 to Glen's Falls where he 
died March 26th, 184(5. Dr. Hitchcock was a man of considerable erudition and a 
good practitioner. He invented a remedy which attained considerable local repute 
and celebrity, under the name of Hitchcock's pills. He also left a medical treatise 
containing an exposition of his peculiar views as to theory and practice, but which 
never came to print. 

(a) Bethuel Peck, was born at Sand Lake, Rensselaer county N. Y., on 
the 16th of June, 1788. His father, Daniel Peck, who was originally from New 
Hampshire, was a soldier in the war of the Revolution. His mother was Mehitabel 
Harvey of Marlborough, N. H. His grandfather, Ichabbd Peck of Cumberland, 
R. I., was a lieutenant colonel in the war of the Revolution. He was wounded 
in action, and died in consequence of his wounds. His wife was Lydia Walcott, 
of the same ]ilace. His father and grandfather both also bore the name of 
Ichabod. The latter was the son of Jathniel, the son of Joseph jr., who was born 
15 



114 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

Peck, Marvin R. (a) Robbins, Charles. 

Ransom, Fletcher. Robinson. 

in England, and baptized there August 23d, 1633, came over to the new world 
with his father in the ship Diligent, of Ipswich, John Martin, master, and settled 
at Hingham, Mass., in 1638, from which plade they both removed about seven 
years later, to Seekonk, now Rehoboth, Mass. — Peck Oenealogy. 

It is not known with certainty what causes led the subject of this sketch to 
Glen's Falls, but it is believed that he was brought along by some of the return 
gangs of raftsmen who, in the early days of the settlement here, rafted their lumber 
to market down the Hudson river. He at first found employment as a stable 
boy at the old Glen's Falls Hotel. Subsequently he secured a position as an 
office-boy for Dr. Levi Rugg, with whom he commenced the study of medicine, 
paying his way with his own earnings from a practice which he rapidly picked up 
and afterwards retained. He subsequently atttended medical lectures at the Medi- 
cal College of Fairfield, N. Y., from which institution he at a later period, received 
his diploma. He married Jerusha Winston, by whom he had one cliild that died 
in infancy. She survived him a few years and died at Chicago, 111., whence her 
remains were removed and deposited by the side of her husband in the village 
cemetery. As will be seen by a reference to the civil list, he was elected for a 
term of four years to the state senate. He was a partner for a number of years 
with the late Billy J. Clark in a drug and medicine establishment on the site now 
covered by Vermillia's market. After his return from the senate he erected the 
brick building to which he gave the name of the Glen's Falls Druggist, and which 
stood on the site of the Central House, conducted by W. McDonald. Here, in conjunc- 
tion with Dr. M. R. Peck, he carried on the drug business for a number of years. 
As a medical man, Dr. Bethuel Peck was a dose observer, and good diagnostician, 
following in the broad beaten ])athway of the schools, he was a safe and successful 
practitioner. His air in the sick room was well calculated to inspire trust and 
confidence, for besides his genial and sympathetic manner, he always contrived 
to leave the impression that what he didn't know about the case, was hardly 
worth knowing. He acquired in the practice of his profession, and the judicious 
investment of his resources, what was considered in those days a handsome fortune. 
He was for many years a leading and influential politician of the place. He 
died on the 11th of July, 1863. 

(a) Makvin Russell Peck, son of Joel ' and Hannah (Baldwin) Peck, was born 
at Sand Lake (or rather that portion of it which has since been set oflT under the 
name of Poesteukill, in Rensselaer county, N. Y.), on the sixteenth of July, 1823. 
His early education was received at the common schools of the neijrhborhood 
where his father resided, working on his father's fann summers, and going to 
school, as opportunity offered, winters. As a somewhat characteristic incident, 
illustrating his tenacity of purpose, he followed a teacher (whose superior ac- 
quirements and ability rendered his instruction desirable) to Wynantskill, a dis- 
tance of six miles, and during a winter of considerable severity made his way on 
foot morning and night to and from the school whatever the weather, and what- 
ever the traveling, as long as the school continued. After this, he had the advan- 
tage of a select school one season. He came to Glen's Falls on the last day of the 
year 1843, literally to seek his fortune. That winter, and the summer following, 
he attended the Glen's Falls Academy. In the September succeeding, he was 
taken in as an office boy and clerk in the drug and medicine business, then but 
recently established by his uncle in the new brick structure erected that season 



' A brother of the late Dr. Bethuel Peck, of whom a biographical sketch, including a brief 
family recoril, iB given above. 



CIVIL LIST. 115 

KuGG, Levi. St. John, John. 

Regan, Thomas. Simmons, Duane B. (a) 

on the site of the old bakery. Here he acquired the repute of being one of the 
steadiest young men of the place. Two years later he was admitted as an equal 
partner iu the same business. At about the same period he commenced his medical 
studies, which were prosecuted under peculiar embarrassments and difficulties, 
at such scanty intervals as could be snatched from the cares and anxieties of busi- 
ness. He had in the interval of student life the advantage of a large practice. 
He entered the Albany Medical College in the winter of 184'!<-9 and graduated, 
after attending three courses of lectures, with oreat credit in the class of 1851. 
After this, he remained three or four years in partnership with his uncle, assisting 
him in his practice and then sold out to him. He was married on the 9th of Sep- 
tember, 1853, to Miss Marcia L., daughter of Thomas H. and Eliza (Miller) Bemia 
of New York city. He settled down to the practice of his profession, commanding 
a fair share of the public patronage and esteem. Two years later he bought out 
the old doctor, as his uncle was often called, and resumed the drug business in 
connection with his practice. Subsequently to the death of his uncle he bought of 
the executors the building used as his store and office. Was burned out in the 
great fire of 1864. Rebuilt the same year, materially enlarging the size of the 
building. He closed out the drug business in 1869 to Messrs. Pettit & Fennel, 
since which time he has devoted his attention exclusively to the practice of his 
profession. As may be seen by reference to the civil list, he was elected coroner in 
the fall of 73. 

Dr. Peck is a physician of more than ordinary acumen and discrimination ; as a 
surgeon he has few, if any, superiors outside of the cities. He has performed several 
capital and important operations, and a more than average amount of success has 
attested Lis judgment and skill. But little past the meridian of his years, a 
a long vista of usefulness opening through the teeming, busy future, still awaits 
his practised eye, and skillful hand. 

(a) Duane Buckbee, only son of Hiram and Julia Emeline (Buckbee) Simmons, 
was born in the town of Milan, Dutchess county, N. Y., on the 13th of August, 
1833. An uneventful childhood furnishes no subject for record except the removal 
of his parents to the town of Kinsgbury, where he received the elements of a 
common scliool education at a district school about two miles from Sandy Hill, 
in the direction of Smith's Basin. His academic instruction was received at 
the Poultney, Vt., Seminary. Following upon this, and with a view of fitting 
himself for the pursuits of a civil engineer and surveyor, he attended the well 
known Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at Troy, where, being then nineteen years 
of age, he only lacked one term of graduating ; when his conversion at a revival 
in the Presbyterian church of Glen's Falls, which he then joined, suddenly 
changed his ambitions, desires and prospects, and had a controlling influence 
over his future career. How well grounded his apprehensions may have been, it 
is not my province to discuss, but it would seem that he entertained a doubt 
whether the surroundings and associations of an engineer, whose vocation is mostly 
followed on the frontiers of civilization, were of that kind best calculated to pro- 
mote growth and development in the Christian life. 

Lever has well remarked that the price a man puts on himself is the very high- 
est penny the world will ever bid for him ; he'll not always get t7iat, but ue'll 
never, no never get a farthing beyond it. 

It was doubtless with some such vague, unuttered feeling as this, that 
young Simmons at this time signified to his parents his desire of changing his 
professitm for that of medicine, not to become a common country doctor, as he in- 



116 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURT. 

Seaman, Merinus. Sheldon, N. Edson. 

Senton. Spooner. 



timated, but as good as the country aflTorded. Receiving their assent, he com- 
menced the study of medicine in 1851, with Dr. Marshall Littlefield, of Glen's 
Falls, with whom he continued for one year. During this time his first course of 
lectures was attended at the Albany Medical College, where he made rajnd pro- 
gress in the attainment of the elements of medical science. He then placed him- 
self in the ofEce of his uncle, Dr. Israel I. Buckbee, another Glen's Falls boy of 
sterling merit, who had achieved success and eminence in his profession, at 
Fonda, Montgomery county, N. T. Here young Simmons renewed his studies 
with a more than common energy and assiduity, attending two full courses of 
lectures at the New York University of Medicine, during which he derived addi- 
tional advantages by becoming a special pupil of the eminent surgeon and pro- 
fessor, Willard Parker. In 1854 he received his diploma, and immediately entered 
upon duty as one of the assistant physicians of the King's county hospital, to 
which he had had the address and influence to secure the appointment. 

A student life of more than common exposure and temptation had nurtured up 
to bone, the gristle of his youthful resolutions, and he was now verging on man- 
hood, ardent and impulsive perhaps, but self reliant, and resolved to make the 
most and best of his opportunities to attain perfection in that profession whose 
portals opened out on his life career. 

He remained in hospital one year, and then embarked in a sailing vessel for 
Europe. The tedious dullness of the voyage was somewhat diminished by a zealous 
application to the acquirement of the French language, the little knowledge of 
which obtained in his school days was nearly obliterated from his memory. He 
landed at Liverpool, pushed on to London, and after a couple of weeks de- 
voted to sight seeing, among the most imposing of which was the reception 
and review of the British army, then fresh from, the fiercely contested battle 
fields of the Crimea, he crossed over to Paris and renewed his application to 
the French language. His success was so rapid that he was enabled to gain 
admission the same season to the medical department of the University of 
Paris and with it the coveted permission to walk the celebrated hospitals 
of that city. He continued here for two years and graduated ; and then for 
the first time availed himself of the opportunity presented to see something of 
the world about him. He made a flying tour through the south of France, cross- 
ing the Alps in the way, and visiting Turin, Florence, Milan, Genoa, Rome and 
Naples. Here he visited, and descended into the crater of Vesuvius a distance 
of one hundred and fifty feet or more. This was the year anterior to the great 
eruption, and the crater already began to exhibit indications of the terrible con- 
vulsions that were coming. After visiting Herculaneum and Pompeii, Pisa with its 
leaning tower, etc., he returned across the Mediterranean by steamer to Marseilles, 
and thence over the divide, and down the storied shores of the Rhine, throuo-h 
Germany and Holland, through many a scene of legend and of song. He visited 
England again and crossed over to Dublin, in whose celebrated hospital he ex- 
pected to find a first class position awaiting him. He had been so long on his 
excursion trip, however, that the place was filled, and he was assigned an inferior 
position, which was so little satisfactory, that after a month or two he tlirew up 
the appointment, and returned home after an absenceof something over two years. 

He immediately removed to the city of Williamsburgh, where he opened an 
office for the practice of medicine, and his efforts to secure a professional mainte- 
nance were rewarded with a flattering success. 

Soon after the promulgation of the treaty with Japan, which was effected by 



CIVIL LIST. 117 

Sternberg, A. Irving. Stoddard, Joseph L. 

Stewart, W. C. B. Stower, Asa. 

Com. Perry, or ratlier, wliile that memorable expedition was in progress, the 
Dutch Reformed church, in anticipation of its success, organized a mission to this 
hitherto unoccupied portion of the heathen world. A physician was wanted to 
make the enterprise complete. The superior culture, the scholarly attainments, 
and the Christian character of young Simmons, who " had kept the whiteness of his 
soul," at once pointed him out as a fitting and most desirable person for the posi- 
tion if he were only married. This unforseen obstacle in the pathway of adven- 
ture, was removed by his being married on Thursday to Maria Antoinette Brower, 
a most estimable young lady with whom he had long been acquainted. On Friday 
he received the degrees of craft masonry ; and on Saturday embarked for the famed 
Cipango of Marco Polo and the early Portuguese navigators, on board the East 
India clipper ship Surprise, Capt. Randlet. By an arrangement with the board 
of missions, Simmons was to have his outfit and passage free, and six hundred 
dollars a year salary, for the first five years, he holding himself entirely at their 
service and subject to their orders. Through the influence of friends, he was also 
appointed bearer of despatches from the government to Mr. Harris (another War- 
ren county boy), the American minister, resident at Yokohama. 

Our space, or the scope of this article, will not admit of a full detail of all the 
incidents of interest and exciting adventures attending this protracted voyage. 
The vessel grounded in the China sea on the way out, and for eight days they 
lay in hourly fear of an attack from the treacherous Malays. Taking advantage 
of a spring tide the craft was finally warped off" without disaster, and proceeded 
to Hong Kong. From that point he made a flying visit to Canton. This was 
but a little after the terrible massacres and wholesale executions connected with 
the Chinese rebellion. From Hong Kong again the vessel proceeded to Shanghai, 
the terminus of her voyage. Here the principal portion of the party were left to 
become the guests of the American residents at that point, among whom Glen's 
Falls was then most hospitably represented by the Wells family. After a few 
days' tarry, Dr. Simmons with a single companion, a gentleman attached to the 
expedition, took passage in an English sailing vessel for Yokohama, where in due 
time he arrived, delivered his despatches and made arrangements for the re- 
mainder of his party, by whom he was joined in a few weeks. 

The doctor was assigned a temple, as a hospital and medical headquarters for 
•the mission, while another temple was devoted to its religious objects. For a time 
they were supposed to be in danger. A native guard was sot around the mission 
temple, for the ostensible purpose of protection, while the doctor's quarters were 
left wholly without any guard, and the doctor and his wife kept alternate watch 
for many a weary night, in apprehension of an attack. The movement was un- 
derstood finally to be a ruse on the part o'f the Japanese, to prevent their own 
people from becoming converts to a new religion. At no time did tliere seem to 
be any jealousy exhibited against the physician of the mission, and as soon as he 
had mastered their language sufficiently to be understood, he acquired the confi- 
dence and good will of many of the influential nativ(^s. The treaty already 
referred to had established Yokohama as the principal iiort through which com- 
merce and traffic was to be carried on with this wonderful people. A large 
population of foreigners of all nationalities was rapidly aggregated at that point, 
and in view of the necessities of such a floating population, the position of port 
physician was offered to Dr. Simmons. After consultation with the parties in 
control of the mission, it was decided to release him from his engagements, he 
refunding the cost of his outflt and voyage, and agreeing to serve the mission in 



118 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

Streeter, B. Gr. Tubes, H. J. 

Tallmadge, Henry 0. Ward, H. J. 

Tubes, Nathan. 

a medical capacity as his original contract called for. The exchange was greatly 
advantageous to him, and in no way prejudicial to the mission. Indeed his oppor- 
tunities for doing good seemed to be enlarged and improved by the exchange. 
After a residence of three years, troubles and disturbances arose, by which all 
foreigners were compelled to leave the country. Dr. Simmons, together with the 
members of the mission, repaired to Shanghai, where he resumed his practice, 
and for a period of three or four months achieved a remarkable success. At this 
time his wife returned to America for a visit of eight months duration. With the 
reopening of the port of Yokahama, he returned and resumed his position, and 
remained until the five years for which he had originally engaged, had more than 
elapsed. He returned home once more, by the way of San Francisco and the' 
isthmus of Tehuantepec. The summer following was passed with his parents, at 
Perry, Wyoming county, N. Y. 

The following spring, he with his wife and son (an only child then of three 
summers) proceeded to Europe, going first to London, thence to Freibiirg, in 
Germany, a town of some importance lying in the vicinity of the celebrated Black 
Forest. Here he and his wife and child passed the summer in quiet and letire- 
ment, devoting their leisure to the acquirement of the German language. The 
ensuing autumn he repaired to Berlin, and entered its celebrated medical school, 
and at the same time obtained the freedom of its various hospitals, where he ap- 
plied himself assiduously to the acquirement of all the more recent discoveries in 
medical sciences. After a residence of about eight months, he took his degree, 
and proceeded to London, in whose hospitals, being in constant intercourse with 
their learned savans and distinguished specialists, he passed another six months- 
Devoting several weeks to travel through Continental Europe, he concluded his 
trip, by a prolonged visit to Paris during the palmiest days of the great exposition 
commonly known as the world's fair. 

Now finding himself quite satiated with the excitements of travel, he returned 
to his native land, and opened an office in the city of New York. His reputation 
for ripe scholarship soon brought to him a large and remunerative practice, in 
which he remained somt^thing like a year, when he was visited by Dr. Hepburn, 
with whom he had formed an intimacy at Yokohama, by whom he was informed 
that measures were in progress for building up a medical college in the city of 
Jeddo, in Japan, and offered liim one of its principal professorships, at a large 
salary. (Tlie treaty stipulations which had originally been restricted to a few 
ports, were now extended over the entire island). 

By these representations he was induced to break up his establishment in New 
York and embark once more for the far off Orient, taking the overland route to San 
Francisco, and thence by steamsliip America. On his arrival at Yokohama, his 
former friends and acquaintances were so desirous he should remain with them 
that they offered to build him a medical college and hospital at that point, which 
should be placed entirely at his disposal and control, and at the last advices, 
he had received an increased offer from the people at Jeddo, the question as yet 
being undetermined which of the two places should be the favored recipient of 
his valuable services. 

Dr. Simmons is yet in the early prime of an active and vigorous manhood, with 
a career of unbounded usefulness, and brilliant promise of wealth and distinction 
opened up before him. 



MILITARY ROSTERS. 

Military Appointments beginning June 23, 1786. 

FIELD AND STAFF. 

1 Adiel Sherwood, Lt. Colonel Commander, (a) 

2 Peter B. Tearse, 1 Major. 

3 Isaac Hitchcock, 2 Major. 

4 Gilbert Caswell, Adjutant. 

5 John Hunsdon, Quarter Master. 

6 William Dinwiddie, Pay Master. 

7 ZiNA Hitchcock, Surgeon. 

8 Ebenezer Hitchcock, Surgeon's Mate, . 28tli September. 1786 

9 Charles Robinson, Q. Master, mice 5, . 26th February, 1789 

10 Alexander, Baldwin jun., Adjutant, vice 4. 

11 Hugh Peebles, Pay Master, vice 6. 

Unconnected company formed 17th March, 1788, Medad Harvey, 
captain; Joseph Harrison, lieutenant; Thomas Bennett, ensign. 

28th Sept., 1789, Capt. Buck's company divided into two and a new 
company formed out of it. 



(rt) In the absence of all aid iu the way of genealogical records but little informa- 
tion can be here given in regard to the family of Col. Sherwood. He is conjectured 
to have been the son of Seth Sherwood, of Fort Edward, who in April, 1771, 
presented a petition to Lord Duumore, the governor of New York, complaining of 
the inhuman and illegal proceedings of Henry Cuyler, Patrick Smith, Joseph Gil- 
lett, Hugh Munroe and others. Had already complained in April 1770, without 
obtaining redress. He formerly lived in the town of Stratford, Conn., and pur- 
chased land under the claim of John Henry Lydius. The land being claimed by 
others he sought to extinguish their title by purchase but without success. Is 
threatened with a law suit (probably an ejectment suit), and at the time of writing, 
Av;is a prisoner in the jail at Albany, where he was committed on a judgment 
obtained by default, in the month of October previously, for £36, at the suit of 
John Finney, for the purchase of lands from the latter under the Lydius title, and 
afterwards taken from him by Neil Shaw. This information is derived from the 
petition to the governor. 

Next in order, follows a complaint, dated in jail January, 1771, to the Grand 
Jury of the Court of Common Pleas in Albany, setting forth that about the last 
of August, 1768, Patrick Smith, did by a precept of forty pounds cause the 
arrest of said Seth Sherwood. The Bailiif, Jonas Beemus, after he had got eight 
or nine miles from Sherwood's residence, tied him with a rope and led him to 
the City Hall, Albany, his arms still tied. All bail was refused. He remained in 



120 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OV QUEENSBURY. 

12 Joseph Adams, Adjutant, vice 10, 

13 John Perrigo, Surgeon's Mate, vice 8, 

14 Peter B. Tearse, Major, .... 

15 Mathias Ogden, Pay Master, vice 11, 

16 Thomas Bradshaw, 2d Major, vice 3, 

17 Seth Sherwood, 2d Major, vice 16,. 

18 Charles Kane, Lt. Col. Com'd'g, vice 1, 

19 Warren Ferris, 1st Major, vice 2, 

20 MiCAJAH Pettit, 2d Major, vice 17, . 

21 John Perrigo, Surgeon, vice 7, 

22 John White Jr., Quarter Master, vice 9, 

23 Leonard Gibes, Surgeon's Mate, vice 13, 

24 EoswELL Weston, Quarter Master, vice 22, 

25 Warren Ferris, Lt. Col. Com'd'g., vice 18, 

26 MiCAJAH Pettit, 1 Major, vice 19, . 

27 John Mills, 2d Major vice 20, . 

18th April, 1800, the two companies of infantry commanded by 
Capts. Doty and Morrison dissolved and commissions of the ofl&cers 
revoked. 



6th April, 


1792 


6th April, 


1792 


7th March, 


1793 


7th March, 


1793 


12th June, 


1793 


2d December, 


1795 


5th April, 


1796 


5th April, 


1796 


5th April, 


1796 


7th April, 


1798 


27th August, 


1798 


27th August, 


1798 


10th April, 


1800 


3d February, 


1802 


3d February, 


1802 


3d February, 


1802 



prison near five months. Refers for character to Edward Jessup, Capt. James 
Bradshaw, Justice Ashmun, John Andrews, Samuel Dunham, Daniel Dunham, 
Daniel Jones, Archibald McNeil, .Capt. John Ogden, William More, Jotham 
Beemus, Noah Payn. 

He next states, that about the last of March, 1770, Joseph Gillet forcibly en- 
tered his premises, and with about twenty men laid up a fence across the middle 
of said Sherwood's land which he had occupied five or six years, with several 
dwelling houses in the same, and took possession of some fourteen acres of his 
land, and burnt up half of said Sherwood's property, warning him and his sons 
against putting up the fences he had pulled down. This was done by the order 
of Henry Cuyler who also claimed the land. He further says that he had with 
the aid of his son in the summer of 1769, cleared four acres, removed four hun- 
dred and sixty-eight logs to the water side, where he rafted them, and though 
Cuyler had consented that he should do so, yet through his agent, Justice Patrick 
Smyth, had them seized and sold to Gillett, without allowing Sherwood anything 
either for logs or labor in clearing the land. 

Among the legislative papers in the Secretary of State's office there is a volume 
of old legislative papers containing a petition from the same Seth Sherwood of 
Fort Edward, presented to the legislature 23d of A])ril, 1785, wherein he states, 
that moved by his love for America, and the principles of the Revolution he 
resolved to venture his life and fortune in vindication of his country's cause. 

His loses in 1777, were appraised at upwards of £370 for which he never received 
a penny. All he had was burnt and plundered in 1780. The burning part was 
appraised at £964. lO.^. what was plundered nearly as much more. During the three 
years that Col. Warner's regiment lay at Fort Edward, and Lake George, he lent 
the public upwards of nine thousand weight of beef, besides flour, corn and hay, 
and he produced certificates from Lt. Col. Samuel Safford, and Captains John 
Chipman and David Bates that he, Captain Seth Sherwood, whilst Warner's 
regiment was at the above posts for more than three years, was always ready to 



MILITARY ROSTERS. 121 



CAPTAINS. 

1 Nehemiah Seelye, 23d June, 1786 

2 Thomas Bradshaw, ...."" " 

3 Seth Sherwood, « « a 

4 Duncan Shaw, u u 

5 Caleb Noble, " " 

6 Levi Crocker, .,..."" '* 

7 Phineas Babcock, u u u 

8 John Buck, u a u 

9 Cornelius Baldwin (Lieut. Infantry), . " " " 

10 John Cools, a u u 

11 Thomas Scribner, vice 7, . . . 28th September, 1786 

12 William Roberts, vice 1, . . . " " " 

13 John Hunsdon, mce 10 (Lieut. Infantry), . " " " 

assist with his team when called on, and had furnished the garrison with provi- 
sions and hay when they could not be procured elsewhere. For (he says) at this 
time the tories, in order to depress the country and help the British, desisted from 
raising crops, or stock, whilst they almost starved themselves, " and did then, 
and still do owe me a revenge because I acted against them in that respect." 

Capt. Seth Sherwood petitioned the legislature in April, 1783, for payment for 
the provisions he had furnished, but though a favorable report was made on his 
claim, there was no money, to satisfy it. He next applied to the commissioners 
of sequestration for some vacant land, the owner of which had gone over to the 
enemy, which land he had already hired, and was in possession of, and expecting 
that the above certificates would avail in payment, he bought the land of the 
commissioners, and gave his notes for such payment. Afterwards, on the report 
of some of his tory enemies, the commissioners sued on the notes before they fell 
due, which so alarmed Sherwood's creditors that they all fell upon him. He had 
purchased other certificates which he placed in a knave's hands, to bid for confis- 
cated lands, who sold the certificates, amounting to nearly one thousand dollars, 
and then threw himself into jail. He complains sadly of the ill return he has 
received for his exertions, expenditures and sufferings, and prays redress.' 

The surrender of Fort Ann by Capt., afterwards Lieut. Col. Adiel Sherwood in 
1780 was then, and has been in even later years the subject of much animadver- 
sion. He was appointed to the command of that post on the 18th of July, 1780. 
The following is a copy of his letter of vindication in regard to the aflfair." 

Captain Sherwood to Col. Livingston. 

" On board the Carlton, 17 Oct., 1780. 
" Dear Sir. 

" It is with regret that I write from this place, but my situation will admit of 

no other. I have not had the least reason to complain since a prisoner, but have 

been used with the greatest politeness. You have doubtless heard the particulars 

of my giving up the garrison at Fort Ann to Major Carleton, who was at the head 

' For nearly all the matter contained in this sketch lam indebted to Dr. E. B. O'Callaghari. 
' From the ]Sl(yfthern Invasion, by Dr. F. B. Hough, being No. 6, of the New York Bradford Club 
publications. 

16 



122 



HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 



14 Thaddeus Dewey, vice 10, . 

15 Thomas McGee, Lieut. Infantry, vice 13 

16 Isaac B. Paine, vice 6, 

17 Hugh McAuley, vice 7, . 

18 Warren Ferris, vice 11, 

19 Benjamin Stewart, 

20 Benjamin Stewart (not qualified), 

21 Alexander McDouqall, vice 4, 

22 Warren Ferris, 

23 Joseph Hepburn, vice 14, 

24 Joseph Herrigan, 

25 Jeremiah Russell, 

26 John Mills, vice 16, . 

27 Isaiah Mead, vice 2, . . . 

28 John Doty, Lt. Infantry, vice 9, 
^_^„.-29 Nathaniel Pitcher, vice 3, 

30 John S. Eaglestone, vice 21, 

31 John Stewart, vice 27, . 

32 David Welsh, vice 24, 

33 John Simmons, .... 



5tli May, 

a a 

29th September, 

(( (( 

eth April, 
27th September, 

8th March, 
6th April, 



7th March, 
12th June, 
27th September, 

2d December, 



1789 
1789 

a 

1790 
1790 
1791 
1792 



1793 
1793 
1793 
1795 



of seven hundred and seventy-eight men, chiefly British. I have with me seventy- 
five men, officers included, which was the whole of my garrison, and not to ex- 
ceed ten pounds of ammunition prman, my communications cut off, and without 
the least hope of relief for some time. It is not only chagrining but heart-break- 
mp: boon to relate the doleful tail. 

" However, after consultino; my officers and some of my most sensible men [I] 
agreed to capitulate, and gave up the garrison, and consider myself and men 
as prisoners of war, could have made some resistance as long as my powder and 
ball lasted, but when that was exhausted, what men that should then [have] 
survived would have been massacred by the savages. This being my situation, 
hard as it was, I agreed to sign the articles, having liberty to send the women 
and children to their respective homes. 

" My men are divided, so that I am not able to write an exact account of the 
number of my men and the militia apart. 

" Major Chipman is also a prisoner here, with about forty men from Fort George. 
Have sent pr bearer a few lines to Mrs. Sherwood, you will do me a particular 
favor to send it to her by the first safe hand. 

" I am in a poor situation to continue in this cold climate this winter, having 
no clothes with me but what I brought on my back, and destitute of any money. 
Must consequently suffer greatly if no way is devised by our legislative body for 
the relief of the state prisoners. My men are very bad clad, and most of them 
without shoes. 

" You will please let Mr. Gillet know that my accounts of issuings for this 
month is destroyed, but the number of men are about the same as last month. 
" I am sir with esteem your very humble servant. 

" ADIEL SHERWOOD." 

Adiel Sherwood's name appears as first lieutenant on the muster roll of the 
first New York Continentals (Van Schaack's) from 1776, to the 16th May, 1780, 



MILITARY ROSTERS. 123 

34 John Morrison, Lt. Infantry, vice 15, . 23d March, 1797 

35 John Wood (appointed by mistake), vice 20, " " " 

36 Benjamin Cutler, vice 32, . . . " " " 

37 Justice Smith, vice 12, ... . " " " 

38 Henry Killmore, vice 30, . . . " " " 

39 Samuel C. Platt, vice 29, . . . 7th April, 1798 

40 Samuel Wineqar, vice 33 (moved), . . " " " 

41 James Sloane, vice 36 (moved), . . u u n 

42 Jonathan Wood, vice 35, . . . . " " '* 

43 Eliphalet Eaglestone, vice 38 . . 10th April, 1800 

44 Nathan Durkee, vice 26, . . • 3d February, 1802 

45 Israel Ward, vice 41, ... . " " " 

46 John Thomas, vice 39^. . . . " "■ " 

47 John Van Wormer, vice 40, . . " " " 

when he resigned. July 1, 1780, is appointed justice of the peace of Charlotte 
county. It is presumed that he was appointed a captain in Colonel Williams' 
Charlotte county regiment, soon after his resignation. From papers in the Secre- 
tary of State's office at Albany the following changes appear in the regimental 
organization of the district. 

1780, March 4. Alexander Webster appointed Colonel vice Williams removed. 
" July 1. Brinton Paine appointed Lieutenant vice Webster promoted. 

1781, March 29. Col. Webster resigns his commission. 

1782, July 24. Joseph McCracken appointed Lieutenant Colonel of Charlotte 

county militia. 

1786, June 23. Appointed lieutenant colonel commandant of a regiment in Wash- 
ington county. 

1789, May 5. The two Washington county regiments divided into three. 
The second under Lt. Col. Sherwood, to consist of Bangs- 
bury, Queensbury, and the three westernmost beats of 
Argyle and the southernmost part of Westfield. 

1789, Sept. 29. That part west of the Hemlocks attached to Sherwood. 
" Sept. 30. John Williams appointed brigadier general of Washington 
county brigade. 

1796, April 5. Sherwood resigns his office as lieutenant colonel. 

The following inscription is taken from a headstone erected at the grave of 
Col. Sherwood and wife in the old burial ground near the Baker place in the 
village of Sandy Hill. 

In Memory of Col. 

Adiel and Sarah Sherwood. 

He was born De'c, 1749, in 

Washington, Conn., a Capt. 

In the Revolutionary War, 

Taken prisoner at Ft. 

Ann, Oct. 10, 1780, died 

Dec. 1824, She was born 

June 1755, died March, 1827. 



124 



HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 



LIST OF LIEUTENANTS. 



1 William Roberts, .... 

2 Thomas McGee, 

3 Albert Baker Jr., .... 

4 Alexander McDougall Jr., 

5 Elijah Bill, 

6 Thomas Durkee, 

7 Thomas Scribner, .... 

8 Hugh Morrison, 

9 Moses Pennel, Lt. Infantry, . 

10 Jonathan Hilton, .... 

11 William McAuley, .... 

12 Jonathan Pitcher, .... 

13 Isaiah Mead, vice 3, . . . 

14 Howard, vice 12, . 

15 Albert Baker Jr., Lt. Infantry, vice 9, 

16 Joseph Herriqan, .... 

17 Isaiah Mead, vice 2, . . . 

18 Nathaniel Pitcher, vice 17, 

19 Daniel Tefft, 

20 Warren Ferris, 

21 Albert Baker Jr., Lieut. Infantry, . 

22 Noah Paine, Lieut. Infantry, vice 10, . 

23 Edward Denham, vice 6, . 

24 Jerry Russell, vice 11, 

25 Joseph Hepbourne, vice 20, 

26 Robert Patterson, 

27 John Eaglestone, vice 14, 

28 Oliver Bissell, . 

29 David Harvey, 

30 John Mills, vice 23, 

31 Nathaniel Gage, Lieut. Infantry, vice 22, 

32 Asa Dunham, 

33 Asa Wray, vice 30, . 

34 David Eddy, vice 25, . 

35 David Welch, vice 29, 

36 John Smith, .... 

37 John Harris, vice 13, 

38 William Cowan, Lieut. Infantry, 

39 Asa Catlin, vice 18, 

40 Justus Smith, 



23d June, 



1786 



28th September, 1786 

(( (( a 

(( (( (( 

17th March, 1788 
5th May, 1789 



29th September, 1789 



6th April, 
27th September, 
6th April, 



1790 
1790 
1792 



7th March, 1793 



12th June, 
27th September, 
2d December, 



1793 
1793 

1795 



MILITARY ROSTERS. 



125 



41 Nathan Durkee, 

42 Henry Killmore, vice 27, 

43 Collins Hitchcock, 

44 Benjamin Cutler, vice 35, 

45 John Morrison, Lt. Infantry 

46 John Stockham, . 

47 John Croslet, Lt. Infantry, 

48 Roger Halliday, vice 36, 
49. James Sloan, vice 44, 

50 Benjamin Pitcher, vice 40, 

51 Eliphalet Eaglestone, vice 

52 Samuel Platt, vice 39, 

53 John Thomas, vice 52, 

54 John Van Wormer, 

55 Samuel Terbush, vice 49, 

56 John Shaw, vice 51, 

57 Levi Pitts, vice 50, . 

58 LiDius Durkee, vice 42, 

59 Alfred Pitcher, vice 57, . 

60 Stephen Porter, vice 55, 

61 John Durand, vice 53, 

62 Benjamin Babcock, vice 54, 



2d December, 1795 



vice 45 



41, 



23d March, 



1797 



U CI 


(( 


7th April, 


1798 


a u 


(( 


U (( 


C( 


10th April, 


1800 


tk (C 


u 


3d February, 


1802 



LIST OF ENSIGNS. 



1 James Higson, 

2 John Harris, 

_3 Nathaniel Pitcher, 

4 Archibald Gillis, 

5 Samuel Chapman, . 

6 Bunnell Payne, . 

7 William Mc Auley, - 

8 Benjamin Stewart, 

9 David Buck, Lt. Infantry, 

10 Elijah Dunham, . 

11 John Clark, vice 7, . 

12 Ebenezer Buck, vice 1, 

13 Perine Jr., vice 10, . 

14 John Watson, ! 

15 Oliver Bissell, 

16 John Eddy, vice 12, 

17 Elijah Russell, 

18 John Wray, . 



23d June, 



1786 



28th September, 1786 

'( il C( 

(( 1( u 

5th May 1789 



126 



HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 



19 Nathaniel Gage, . 

20 David Buck, 

21 John Mills, .... 

22 Samuel Fairchild, vice 17, . 

23 David Ling, vice 16, 

24 Peter Talman, Lt. Infantry, 

25 Samuel Wood, .... 

26 R. Savage, .... 

27 George Jackway, . 

28 Asa Wrat, vice 21, 

29 Elijah Dunham, vice 19, . 

30 Asa Catlin, Lt. Infantry, vice 24, 

31 Peter Fairchild, . 

32 Nathan Durgee, vice 28, 

33 Amos Baldwin, 

34 Benjamin Cutler, 

35 Asa Hodges (not qualified), 

36 Asa Catlin, vice 14, 

37 John Doty, Lt. Infantry, vice 16, 

38 John Morrison, . 

39 John Stewart, vice 2, 

40 William High Jr., Lt. Infantry, 

41 Samuel Platt, vice 36, 

42 John Miner, 

43 Eliphalet Eaglestone, vice 26, 

44 Medad Bostwick, 

45 LiDius Durkee, vice 32, . 

46 Isaac Williams, vice 39, 

47 James Alden, vice 34, 

48 John Crosby, Lt. Infantry, 

49 JuDAH Thompson, . 

50 John Swain, Lt. Infantry, 

51 William Alcot, vice 85, . 

52 Lemuel Terboss, vice 47, 

53 Levi Pitts. 

54 John Shaw, vice 43, 

55 John Thomas, vice 41, 

56 John Durand, vice 55, . 

57 Benjamin Babcock, 

58 Ephraim Cowan, vice 52, 

59 Lyman Littlefield, vice 46, . 

60 Randall McDougall, vice 45, 

61 Alfred Pitcher, vice 53, . 

62 Saunders Littlefield, vice 59, 



5tli May, 

29th September, 

6tli April, 

27tli September, 
6tli April, 



1789 
(( 

1789 

u 

1790 

a 

1790 

1792 



7tb March, 1793 



U (( 



27th September, 


1793 


a u 


u 


2d December, 


1795 



23d March, 1797 



7th April, 



1798 



10th April, 1800 



MILITARY ROSTERS. 



63 Lyman Baker, 

64 William Carpenter, . 

65 Samuel Love, . 

66 William B. West, 

67 Lemuel Hastings, vice 58, 

68 Nathaniel Pitcher Jr., 

69 Beni Copeland, 



3d February, 



127 

1802 



IT. 



Beginning the ZOth of September, 1789. 



FIELD AND STAFF. 



6th April 



1790 



1 John Williams, Brigadier General, 

2 Nathan Morgan, Inspector, ... « u « 

3 Stephen Clapp Jr., Inspector, vice2, . 8th March, 1791 

4 Anthony I. Blanchard, Inspector, vice 3, 27th September, 1793 



LIST OF CAPTAINS. 

1 Anthony I. Blanchard, 

2 Charles Kane, . 

3 John Hitchcock, 

4 Micajah Pettit, . 

5 G-ARRETT Peebles, . 

6 Benjamin Colvin, 

7 Stephen Thorne, . 

8 John Hitchcock, 

9 Solomon Smith, 

10 Philip Smith, 

11 Stephen Thorne, 

12 Sylvester Rowley, vice 11, 

13 James Harvey, 

14 Micajah Pettit, 

15 JoNA Harris, . 

16 Daniel Mason, vice 12, 



30th September, 1789 



6th April, 



1792 



2(i December, 


1795 


5th April, 


1796 


10th April, 


1800 



LIST OF LIEUTENANTS. 



1 Micajah Pettit, 

2 JoNA Harris, 

3 Adonijah Skinner, 



30th September, 1789 



128 



HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 



4 Christopher Allen, . 

5 Edward Patten, 

6 Samuel Cook, 

7 Walsinqham Collins, . 

8 Samuel Frisby, , 

9 Sylvester Rowley, 

10 Samuel Payne, . 

11 Daniel Mason, vice 9, 

12 Daniel Roberts, vice 11, 

13 G-ERRiTT J. Van Schaick vice 7, 

14 Silas Conkey, . . . 

15 William Hamilton, 

16 Jona Harris, vice 1, 

17 Barzillai D. Hitchcock, mce 10 

18 Solomon Day, vice 2, 

19 Samuel Caldwell, vice 16, 

20 James McFarland, vice 15, 

21 Ezra Dyre, .... 

22 Elias Dayton, vice 11, 

23 Thomas Worden, vice 2,1^ 



30th September, 1789 



LIST OF CORNETS 



Adonijah Skinner, 
Gerritt I. Van Schaick, 
Daniel Mason, 
Benjamin Smith, . 
Barzillai D. Hitchcock, 
Francis Maynard, 
Ezra Dyre, 

8 John Russell, 

9 John Vernor Jr., . 

10 Andrew Freeman, vice 8, 

11 Amos Curtis, vice 6, 

12 Robert Myrick, . 

13 Benjamin Smith, . 



24th March, 
30th November, 



1794 
1795 



5th April, 
23d March, 



10th April, 



1796 
1797 



1800 



6th April, 1792 

27th September, 1793 

(( i< a 

24th March, 1794 

30th November, 1795 

u u a 

(< u (( 

5th April, 1796 

23d March, 1797 

(I U (( 

10th April, 1800 



m. 

27th Sept., 1793. Battalion formed in Totten and Crossfield's purchase. 

1 Richardson Thurman, Major Commandant. 

2 Charles McLaren, Adjutant, ... 2d December, 1795 

3 John McLaren Jr., Surgeon, . . " " " 



MILITARY ROPTERS. 



129 



4 Moses Leonard, Quarter Master, 

5 KiTCHEL Bishop, Adjutant, . 

6 Leavitt Fox, Quarter Master, . 



2d December, 
10th April, 



1795 
1800 



LIST OF CAPTAINS. 




1 Hugh McAuley. 




2 Enos Mead. 




3 John Murray. 




4 Timothy Stowe, Lt. Infantry, . . . 23d March, 


1797 


5 WiLLiAi^i Johnson, .... " " 


u 


6 Benjamin Potter, 2l8t January, 


1802 


7 James Tuttle, « « 


u 


8 Daniel Beswick, ....-" " 


(( 


9 Asa Dunham u n 


a 


10 James Purlser, 13th March, 


a 



LIST OF LIEUTENANTS. 



1 Daniel Beswick. 

2 Benjamin Potter. 

3 William Johnson. 

4 Joseph Bogkes, Lt. Infantry, 

5 James Parker, 

6 Amos Rich, 

7 Hezekiah Baldwin, . . . 

8 Frederic Miller, , 

9 Justus Bennett, . 

10 Gershom Darling, . 

11 John McMillan, vice 5, 



23d March, 1797 

(( (( u 

21st January, 1802 



U (( 



13th March, 



1802 



LIST OF CORNETS. 



1 Israel Thomas. 

2 Daniel Barker. 

3 Joseph Bockes. 

4 Simon Chesley, 

5 Justus Bennett, vice 1, 

6 Hezekiah Baldwin, vice 2, 

7 John McMillan, vice 3, 

8 ZiBA Hareden, 

9 Benjamin Knapp, 

17 



23d March, 
10th April, 



1797 
1800 



21st January, 1802 



130 



HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 



10 Eleazer Goodman, 

11 Nathaniel Smith, 

12 Edward Cornell, 

13 Caleb Cook, . 



21st January, 1802 



13th March, 1802 



To the foregoing may properly be appended the following extract from 
the Clinton manuscripts on file in the State Library. " A return of the 
militia of the state of New York under the command of his Excellency 
Geo. Clinton, Esq., commander-in-chief, December 1st, 1788, Washington 
county, James Gordon, of Albany, Brigadier, Adiel Sherwood, Lieut. Col. 
commanding, Adam Martin, Lieut. Col. commanding. 

Sherwood's Regt. July 28 total rank and file 854, 
Martin's " " 31 " " " " 1,138." 



[Prom the Wing Papers.] 

MILITARY WARRANT. 

" Queensbury, June, ye 25, 1787. 
Agreeable to regimental orders you hereby Required to tak the within 
list and worn each person named therein to apeare at Hosey Howards 
(on the Ridge) Compleatly aquiptas the Law Dereacts to the Regimental 
parade on Wensday the 9 day of July at nine o'clock in the morning 
there to ymbody to March to the Regimental parade. 

WILLIAM ROBARDS Capt». 



Hosey Howard, 
Eli Hopkins, 
Isaac Bates, 
Edward Flanigan, 
Abraham Wing junr., 
Andrew Lewis, 
James Tarn, 
Henry Martin, 
James Griffin, 
John Eday, 
James Higson, 
Phinehas Babcock, 
Miles Worshburn jr., 
Elisha Wing, 
Justis Sealy, 
James Stevenson, 
Walter Brigs, 
Jabish Brigs, 
Jacob Buoice, 



David Ogden, 
David Bennett junr., 
David Shaw, 
Jacob Odle, 
Samuel Odle, 
Bennay Akens, 
Elijah Barto, 
Jonathan Tripp, 
James Tripp, 
Jesse Denny, 
George Denny, 
Isaack Wilcocks, 
Epraim Woodard, 
James Bennett, 
Nathaniel Fuller, 
Ebenezer Fuller Jr., 
Benjamin Fuller, 
Edward Fuller, 
Matthew Fuller, 



Stephen Howard, 
Jeremiah Briggs, 
Justus Brown, 
Houghgil Brown, 
John Fennel, 
Ezekiel Sweet, 
Nicholas Barker, 
Samuel Barker, 
James Butler junr., 
Nathan Clark, 
Nathaniel Comins, 
Wolcatt Blakely, 
Wanton Morey, 
John Holeden, - 
Peter Peck, 

Nathaniel Odle, Sarg't. 
Nathaniel Babcock, 

Sarg't. 




QUEENSBURY IN THE WAR OF THE UNION. 



Some Account of the War Committee op Queensbury in the War 
OP the Great Kebellion — Its Action and Representation 
therein — The several Quotas op the Town — Bounties — 
Erection op the Soldiers' Monument with some Account op 

THE SAME. 

^ITH the tidings of the fall of Fort Sumter, a call was 
made, numerously signed by citizens of the village, 
irrespective of party, for a public meeting at Numan's 
Hall, a building which stood on what is now mostly 
a vacant space, between Cosgrove Music Hall, and the Glen's 
Falls Opera House. A large and enthusiastic meeting, presided 
over by the Hon. Keyes P. Cool, resolved that this community 
should do its share and be fully represented in the coming strug- 
gle. Two persons, namely, the writer of this book and Mr. 
George Clendon received authorizations from the adjutant 
general of the state to raise companies in response to the first 
call of the president for volunteers. The ranks were speedily 
filled and the companies mustered for service by Col. H. K. 
Colvin of the 31st New York Militia. They were joined by ano- 
ther company (I), of stalwart men from the north part of War- 
ren and Essex counties. These three companies received the 
honors of an ovation given them by the citizens of the village, 
a purse was made up and given to each company and they were 
escorted to Fort Edward by the fire department of the place. 
The same day they reached the military rendezvous at Troy, 
where in due time they were consolidated as companies E and 
F, with other companies from the neighborhood and formed 
the 22d Regt. IST. Y. Vols, under the command of Col. Walter 
Phelps jr., of Glen's Falls. It subsequenty formed a part of 
the famous iron brigade of the first division, and first army 
corps.^ 



' With the first enlistment of two years' volunteers, as there was no bounty, 
either local, state or general, offered, recruits were backward in offering their 
services, until guaranties were given that in case of their death or disability 



132 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

From that time forward, scattering recruits from old Queens- 
bury were continually pouring to the front, filling the ranks of 
the regular army, supplying deficient quotas from other sections 
of the state and country at large. 

With the progress of the war,^ and its prospective continu- 
ance, new calls were made, new levies demanded. The question 
was no longer one ofpatriotism, the claim was obligatory, its effect 
compulsory, month by month new regiments were raised, and 
new companies furnished. JS'early an entire company of Glen's 
Falls boys was recruited for a District of Columbia regiment. 

The 91st, 93d, 96th, 115th, 118th, 125th, 126th, 153d, 156th, 
169th and 192d regiments were represented by companies or 
detatchments of Glen's Falls volunteers, while scattering repre- 
sentatives might have been found in half the regiments of the 
state, and every branch of the service. After the boys in blue 
began to return home from expired enlistments, many of them 
reentered the army, resolved to see the thing through. In this 
way what was known as the veteran regiments were speedily 
filled out and returned to do good service in the war. In this 
way the Second New York Veteran Cavalry, and Sixteenth New 
York Heavy Artillery received large accessions from this 
vicinity. 

The volunteer system of 1861, was found on brief trial, to 
be entirely inadequate to the exigencies of the war. It took, 
however, a long time, before all the machinery incidental to a 
new and hitherto untried system, to work itself into thorough 
and harmonious operation. No quotas were assigned, and no 

their families should be provided for. This assurance was met by two subscrip- 
tion papers amounting to about ten thousand dollars each. Of this sum nearly 
one-half was collected and disbursed ; the bounty system then coming in, dis- 
pensed with the need of any further assessments or collections. 

' One of the early effects of the war, was the issues of vast volumes of paper cur- 
rency which speedily became known as greenbacks. A counter result was the 
almost immediate withdrawal from circulation of the specie of the country even 
to the copper aifd nickel issue. The consei]uonce was, a great temporary distress 
for the want of small change. The country was flooded in a few weeks, with a 
bogus brass currency, composed of tradsmens' cards. Postage stamps for large 
and small amounts were temporarily used, and one enterprising manufacturer of 
nostrums went so far as to enclose them in metallic cases, bearing the stamped 
names of the remedies. In this emergency, the corporate authorities of Glen's 
Falls issued in the fall of 1862, what were known as corporation shiuplasters to 
the amount of foOOO, in denominations of fifty, twenty-five, ten and five cents. 
With the issue of the jiostal currency by the general government, came a general 
law, forbidding corporations or individuals from circulating such money, so it was 
called in and cancelled the following year. 



THE WAR OF THE UNION. 133 

records, comiog within the scope of this article, were kept 
either by the state, or general government in that, or the fol- 
lowing years. It was not until March, 1863, that the general 
government made an enrollment, and through its provost mar- 
shals in each congressional district began its assignment of 
quotas. The following statistics appear on the files of the adju- 
tant general's department at Albany for the year 1862. 

Population of the town of Queensbury, 7,146 

Number enrolled liable to military duty, 1,107 

Number of exempts embraced in above return, 86 

Number liable to draft, 1,021 

Quota of Queensbury under the calls of July and 
August, 1862.1 221 

Number furnished to fill quota as above, 208 

Deficit carried forward, 13 



During that dark period of the rebellion, which preceded the 
emancipation proclamation, Governor Morgan appointed in each 
senatorial district, a committee of three gentlemen, who, in 
conjunction with sub-committees designated by them in each 
county, were known as the war committee, whose business 
seems to have been, without any specifically defined duties, to 
assist in making up the complement of troops required of each 
locality. 

The late Halsey R.- Wing, was the member who represented 
Queensbury on that committee, and very efficiently and patri- 
otically did he discharge that duty, for, besides his time, his 
labor and his money, he gave his two sons Edgar Murray and 
George Henry, as an oiFering upon the altar of his country. 

If there was any other member of that senatorial war com- 
mittee from Queensbury, I have not been advised of the fact. 

There at length came a time in our history when money 
had to be raised to»pay bounties, in order to save the trou- 
ble and reproach of a draft. A special town meeting for 
this purpose was called on the 25th of July, 1864 (less than 
three months after the great fire which had burned out the 

'The call in July, was for three hundred thousand three years' men. The call 
in August was for three hundred thousand nine months' men. These two amounts 
were consolidated in one assignment, and equalized, so that an enlistment for three 
years represented and was equivalent to four enlistments at nine months. There 
were but very few nine months' troops mustered from this state. The large pro- 
portion were three years' men. 



134 HISTORY OP THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

heart of our village, and destroyed upwards of one million dol- 
lars worth of property) ; at which one hundred thousand dollars 
were voted to pay the volunteers.^ Bonds were issued repre- 
senting this sum, and twice to its credit be it said, that these 
securities were all quickly taken at home, and have long since 
been paid up and cancelled. At the town meeting referred to, 
the following gentlemen were chosen as a permanent war com- 
mittee of the town, whose services, onerous, arduous and re- 
sponsible, were continued to the end of the war, viz : 

Jerome Lapham, I. J. Davis, F. A. Johnson jr., 

Halsey R. Wing, George Conery, Stephen Brown, 

William A. Wait, Lifelet Harris, R. M. Little. 

Most of these gentlemen gave a large per centage of their 
time to this undertaking. They offered bounties, and expended 
money to pay volunteers, sent agents both north and south to 
procure substitutes and fill the quotas required by the draft ; 

1 Of tliis amount the Glen's Falls Bank took shares amounting to $13,225, the 
Commercial Bank $16,400. The balance was taken by private parties the Hon. 
Jerome Lapham alone bearing upwards of ten thousand dollars of the amount. 
The bonds were so apportioned that an equal proportion matured each year until 
they were all cancelled. 

Besides the amount already specified other sums were appropriated during the 
same year as appears by the following resolutions passed at the annual town 
meeting. 

" Resolved, That there be raised $109.60 for to pay expenses in recruiting Capt. 
Fassett's company. 

Resolved, That there be raised $108.87 to pay expenses in recruiting Capt. Arlin's 
company. 

Resolved, That there be raised $106.43 to pay expenses in recruiting Capt. D. 
Cameron's company. 

Resolved, That there be raised $109.80 to pay George Conery and William Cos- 
grove for taking up a note drawn by M. W. Coville for recruiting purposes. 

Resolved, That there be raised $1,;554.73 to pay a note dated Dec. 20, 1862. 

Resolved, That there be raised $7,015 to pay a note drawn for bounty money. 

Resolved, That there be raised $1,890.12 to pay a note lield by Jerome Lapham. 

Resolved, That there be levied and raised $4,845 to pay note in the Commercial 
Bank drawn by citizens for bounty of $300 each. 

Resolved, That there be raised $612.32 to pay note given to pay expenses of 
reception of 22d regiment. 

At a special town meeting held December 19th, 1864, the following resolutions 
were passed. 

Resolved, That the sum of $30,000 be raised by the town for the purpose of 
paying bounties into the military and naval service of the United States. 

Resolved, Tliat this money be collected in five equal installments of $6,000 each 
with the amount of interest unpaid thereon. 

Resolved, That $2,467.76 be raised for the purpose of paying bounties." 



THE WAK OF THE UNION. 135 

looked after the soldiers' families at home, and superintended 
the investment and liquidation of the town bonds. 



Statement of the quotas assigned to Queensbury, Warren Co., 16th 
district of New York, and the credits applied thereon, under calls 
for troops. 

Credits. QuotaB. 

Quota under call of February 1, 1864, 149 

" " " March 14, 1864, 62 

211 

Credits by newrecruits, 179 

" " veteran volunteers, 13 

« " draft of 1863, 46 238 

" " surplus June 30, 1864, 27 



Quota under call of July 18, 1864, 128 

Credits f>j new recruits, 167 

" " veteran volunteer, 1 168 

" " surplus on call of July 18, 1864, 30 



Quota under call of December 19, 1864, 46 

Credits by new recruits, 36 

" " " regular army, 3 

" " draft, 4 43 

Deficiency on call Dec. 19, 1864, 3 

War Dept., Adjt. General's office, 

Washington, D. C, February 9, 1874. 

(Official,) THOMAS M. VINCENT, 

Assist. Adjutant General. 
Adj. Gen.'s office, 

Albany Feb. 12, 1874, 
Official copy, 

J. B. Stonehouse,^ 

Asst. Adj. Gen. 

At the termination of the war, there remained a considerable 
balance in the treasury, and chiefly through the active agency 

^ To the gentlemen whose names are hereto appended, the author begs to make 
his grateful acknowledgments. 



136 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

of the late Halsey R. Wing, it was decided after due deliberation 
to appropriate it to the erection of a soldiers' monument. The 
subject was submitted to the action of the annual town meeting 
held 6th March, 1866, when the following resolutions were sub- 
mitted to the people and adopted. 

Resolved., That to commemmorate the services and sacrifices 
of the soldiers of Queensbury, who during the war of 1861-'65 
fell in battle or died from wounds received or disease contracted 
in defense of the Union ; and in memory of our late fellow 
citizens Daniel V. Brown and Edward Riggs, who, while going 
to South Carolina as agents of the town under the directions of 
the town war committee, were lost at sea on the eighth day of 
January, 1865, the sum of eight thousand dollars be, and the 
same hereby is appropriated by this town meeting, towards de- 
fraying the expense of erecting a suitable monument, or ceno- 
taph in such appropriate place as can be procured in or near 
the village of Glen's Falls. 

Resolved, That the sum of five thousand two hundred and 
sixty-four dollars and thirty-nine cents, military funds, in the 
hands of the supervisor, be appropriated toward the monument. 

Resolved, That Jerome Lapham, R. M. Little, Wm. A. Wait, 
Lifelet Harris, Stephen Brown, I. J. Davis, George Conery, 
H. R. Wing, the members of the town war committee now re- 
siding in town, and M. B. Little in place of F. A. Johnson jr., 
no longer a resident here, be and they are hereby appointed a 
committee to receive the said funds and according to their dis- 
cretion disburse the same for the purpose of this appropriation. 

Resolved, That the legislature be and hereby are requested to 
legalize by law the appropriation made by the foregoing resolu- 
tions and that a copy of them be transmitted by the town clerk 
to our member of assembly, the Hon. David Aldrich, fpr pre- 
sentation to the legislature. 

Resolved, That there be raised two hundred and sixty dollars 
and seventy-eight cents to indemnify the loss of Edward Riggs 
to be paid to his sister Ellen Riggs. 

Resolved, That there be raised three hundred and twenty-nine 
dollars and five cents to indemnity Daniel V. Brown, for the loss 
of his private property, the same to be paid to Mrs. D. V. Brown. 

Resolved, That there be raised one hundred and twenty-five 
dollars to indemnity William Cosgrove for a gold watch, lost 
with D. V. Brown at the time of his death. 



THE WAR OF THE UNION. 137 

The committee above named, after examining several designs, 
and exerting careful and mature deliberation in the premises, 
adopted a plan (with some alterations) which was submitted by 
R. T. Baxter, at that time a resident of the village, a dealer in 
and manufacturer of marble, and monumental work and entirely 
familiar with the busineSs in all its details, and having made 
his specification and propositions he was at length commissioned 
to erect the monument. He at once embarked in the enterprise 
con amore, traveled far and wide to secure durable and suitable 
stone for the work, and employed special first class workmen, 
part of whom were hired from the cities at great expense, to 
execute its finer details. The work was commenced in the 
spring of 1867. 

The foundation or substructure is fourteen feet square, and 
eight feet deep, built of massive blocks of marble from our own 
quarries embedded in cement and whose interstices are filled 
with grout and cement. Upon this is laid a base of Spruce- 
head granite from Maine. This is ten feet square, cornered, 
and eighteen inches thick. 

Upon this rests a plinth sixteen inches in thickness, eight feet 
square and cornered. This in turn supports a moulded plinth 
whose height is eighteen inches and whose diameter each way 
is six feet and six inches, and also cornered, as is the entire 
shaft in all its pieces and additions to the capstone. The second 
plinth is surmounted by a die five feet and six inches square, 
with four raised tablets, one upon each face. Upon three of these 
are inscribed the roll of the honored dead, whose names are given 
herewith. The remaining face, together with a raised wreath 
of oak and laurel on the die above, contains the dedicatory in- 
scription. 

On the corners of the lower die are wrought out in relief four 
cannon. The material of the entire monument, above the 
granite base, is Dorchester freestone, fine in grain, dark brown 
in color, obtained at great cost from New Brunsv>dck. Upon 
• the lower die rests a moulded cap eighteen inches in thickness, 
and six feet six inches square, which supports the upper die or 
shaft proper, one of whose faces has already been described. 

In niches on the north and south aspects of this die are niches, 
containing statues life size, cut from the same material that com- 
poses the monument, representing the one an officer, the other 
a soldier in the attitude of reversed arms. Next follows four 
18 




THE SOLDIERS' MONUMENT. 



r.. , f n,„n«ion in the rear of the monument is the residence of Mr. Henry Crandell 
^'^ '^^Twhose liL'am; roth" he author and reader are indebted for this cut. 



THE WAR OF THE UNION. 139 

sections of the shaft, all gradually tapering toward the top which 
is twenty-two inches in diameter. The three lower of these con- 
tain raised bands with the names of battle fields as given here- 
with, chiseled in relief. 

On the corners of each section also appears a star cut in relief. 
The whole is surmounted by a capstone, cut from a block five 
feet square and three feet thick, representing the American flag 
drooping in graceful folds, upon which rests an eagle, in the 
act of springing into flight. The spread of the eagle's wings is 
about five feet. 

The entire monument is estimated to weigh about one hun- 
dred tons. It was completed at a cost of about twelve thousand 
dollars, of which amount, its unfortunate, though public spirited 
architect, was left to meet and make up an unprovided deficit 
of four thousand dollars. 



LEGENDS AND INSCRIPTIONS. 

First Side facing West street. 

BULL RUN. 

ANTIETAM. 

GETTTSBURGH. 

UR 

EEROIG 

DEAD, 

Who fell in the War. 

For tlie Union, 
1861 1865. 

©rectcb to tl)eir iHcmorg 

BY THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 



140 



HISTORY OF THE TOWN OP QUEENSBURY. 



Second Side facing River bridge, 

* HANOVER. * 

* WILDERNESS. * 

* SO. MOUNTAIN. * 

(Statue of Officer). 

OFFICERS. 

Lieut. William T. Norris, Co. E, 23d Regt. N. Y. V. 

KUled at the battle of Bull Run, Va., Aug. 30th, 1862, M. 39 years, 

Lieut. Charles Cushing, Co. E, 23d Regt. N. Y. V. 

Killed at the battle of Antietam, Sept. ITth, 1862, M. 23 years. 

Lieut. Edgar M. Wing, Co. E, 118th Regt. N. Y. V, 

Mortally wounded at the battle of Drewry's Bluff. 

Died a prisoner of war at Richmond, Va., May 18th, 1864, M. 23 years. 

Lieut. Stephen D. Little, Co. B, 96th Regt. N. Y. V. 
Killed at the battle of Cold Harbor, Va., June 1st, 1864, M. 22 years. 

Lieut. Michael Reynolds, Co. A, 118th Regt. N. Y. V. 

Killed at the battle of Cold Harbor, Va., June let, 1864, M 21 years. 

Lieut. Harrison P. Kingsley, Co. A, 3d Regt. Veteran Cavalry. 

Died from disease contracted while a prisoner of war, Nov. 23d, 1865, M. 28 years. 

Lieut. Michael McGeough, Co. H, Ist Regt. Sharp Shooters. 

Killed at the battle of the Wilderness, May 22d, 1864, M. 28 years. 

Alexander J. Kenney, Lieut. Col. 8th Regt. Indiana Vols. 
Died from wounds received at the battle of Cedar Creek, Va., Nov. 28th, 1864, M. 31 years. 



» 



Third Side facing Bay road. 
YORKTOWN. 



¥t 



* cold harbor. * 

* drewry's bluff. * 

This tablet is inscribed as a public expression of regard for the memory of 

Daniel V. Brown, and Capt. Edward Riggs, who perished at sea, off the 

coast of Virginia, January 8th, 1865, while in the performance of 

their duties as military agents of the town of Queenshjiry. 

SOLDIERS WHO DIED FROM DISEASE . 



Pere Januaricus Surprenant, Co. A,118thRegt., 

N. Y. V. 
George Westcott, Co. A, 118th Regt. N. Y. V. 
Henry S. Hall, Co. A, 118th Regt. N. Y. V. 
Abraham White, Co. A, 118th Regt. N. Y. V. 
Abner B Crannell, Co. A, 118th Regt. N. Y. V. 
Allen D. Hubbell, Co. A, 118th Regt. N. Y. V. 
Alpheus Capron Jr., Co. A, nsth Regt. N. Y. V. 
Samuel B. Pease, Co. B, 175th Regt. N. Y. V. 
Richard M. Rice, Co. D, 175th Regt. N. Y. V. 
Marvin P. Crannell, Co. D, 175th Regt. N. Y. V. 
Truman Allen, Co. B, 175th Regt. N. Y. V. 
Amos Baker, Co. K, 156th Regt. N. Y. V. 
John M. Crossett, Co. K, 1.58th Regt. N. Y. V. 
William IlilliB, Co. K, 1.5.3d Regt. N. Y. V. 
Philander Hurd, Co. K, 1.5;5d Regt. N. Y. V. 
John Blackburn, Co. I, Qlst Regt. N. Y. V. 
Reuben Sherman, Co. F, 115th Regt. N. Y. V. 
Ralph S. Williams, Co. F, 115th Regt. N. Y. Y. 
David Johnson, Co. K, 125th Regt. N. Y. V. 



John McAlley, Co. E, 22d Regt. N. Y. V. 
Alexander Threehonse,Co. H, 29d Regt.N.Y.V. 
Edward Blanchard, Co. H, 22d Regt. N. Y. Y. 
George Brumagym, Co. F, 7Cth Regt. N.Y.V. 
Ambrose Spencer, Co. D, 9.3d Regt. N.Y.V. 
Henry Brumagym, Co. H, 93d Regt. N. Y. V. 
Cyrenus Williams, Co. L, 2d Veteran Cavalry. 
Medard Hebert, Co. F, 2d Veteran Cavalry. 
Henry Salter, Co. E. 2d Veteran Cavalry. 
Euacbe Joubert, Co. L, 2d Veteran Cavalry. 
William Crossett, Co. E, Harris Light Cavalry. 
George R. Smith, Co. M, Ist Regt. Md. Cavalry. 
Arthur O'Leary, 1st Regt. Louisiana Vols. 
Lemuel C. Horton, 192dRegt. N. Y. V. 
Charles F. Roselle, Co. E, 13th Regt. N. Y.V. 
Lewis Vandeusen, Co. K, 83d Regt. N. Y. V. 
James L. Perry, Co. L, 2d Veteran Cavalry. 
Alexander Bennett, Co. B, 123d Regt. N. Y. V. 
George Harris. — — — — 
Michael McGeough Jr., U. S. Marine Service. 



THE WAK OF THE UNION 



141 



Fourth Side facing the Episcopal Church. 

* FAIR OAKS. * 
« FORT FISHER. * 

* BERMUDA h'd. * 



(Statue of Soldier.) 



SOLDIERS WHO WERE KILLED OR DIED FROM WOUNDS. 



Martin Sherman, Co. A, 118th Regt. N. Y. V. 

Hanover Jonction, Va., July, 1863. 
Henry M. Mills, Co. A, 118th Regt. N. Y. V. 

Hanover Junction, July, 1863. 
Joseph Granger, Co. A, 118th Regt. N. Y. V. 

Drewry's Bluff, Va., May, 1864. 
John H. Hall, Co. A, 118th Regt. N. Y. V. 

Drewry's Bluff, Va., May, 1864. 
Adelbert Andrews, Co. A, 118th Regt. N. Y. V. 

Drewry's Bluff, Va., May, 1864. 
Charles F. Copeland, Co. A, 118th Regt. N.Y.V. 

Drewry's Bluff, Va., May, 1864. 
Destang Johnson, Co. A, 118th Regt. N. Y. V. 

Drewry's Bluff, Va., May, 1864. 
William B. Hall, Co. A, 118th Regt. N. Y. V. 

Fair Oaka, Va.. Oct., 1864. 
Sergeant Fred. K. F. French, Co. D, 169th Regt. 
N. Y. V. 

Bermuda Hundred, Va., May, 1864. 
Joseph Hillis, Co. D, 169th Regt. N. Y. V. 

Bermuda Hundred, Va., May, 1864. 
Richard Kearney, Co. D, 169th Regt. N. Y. V. 

Bermuda Hundred, Va., May, 1864. 
Sylvester Madden, Co. D, 169th Regt. N. Y. V. 

Fort Fisher, N. C, July, 1864. 
Dennis O'Leary, Co. D, 169th Regt. N. Y. V. 

Fort Fisher, N. C, July, 1864. 
Patrick Farrell, Co. D, 169th Regt. N. Y. V. 

Fort Fisher, N. C, July, 1864. 
Sergt. Dennis Corbett, Co. D, 169th Regt. N. 
Y. V. 

Fort Fisher, N. C, July, 1864. 
William H. Groom, Co. A, 118th Regt. N.Y.V. 

Drewry's Bluff, Va. Hosp., June, 1864. 
Sergt. Andrew J. Brumagym, Co. A, 118th 
Tiegt. N. Y. V. 

Drewry's Bluff, Va. Hosp.. May, 1864. 
Marquis Da\is, Co. A, 118th Regt. N. Y. V. 

Fort Harrison Hosp., 1862. 



Capt. John Bailey, Co. P, 93d Regt. N. Y. V. 
Killed at the battle of the Wildemees, Va., 
May 5th, 1864, M. 41 years. 



Corp. Charles La Rose, Co. C, 93d Regt. N.Y.V" 

Wilderness, Va., May, 1864. 
Robert Martin, Co. P, 93d Regt. N. Y. V. 

Wilderness, May, 1864. 
Wilbur F, Buswell. Co. E, 22d Regt. N. Y. V. 

So. Mountain, Md., Sept., 1862. 
Patrick Johnson, Co. E, 22d Regt. N. Y. V. 

Second Bull Run, Va., Aug., 1862. 
Benj. F. Hendricks, Co. F, 22d Regt. N. Y. V. 

Second Bull Run, Va^ Aug., 1862. 
Andrew La Point, Co. F, 22d Regt. N.Y.V. 

Second Bull Run, Va., Aug., 1862. 
Joseph Whitford, Co. E, 22d Regt. N. Y. V. 

Antietam, Md , Sept., 1862. 
Norman Williams, Co. K, 93d Regt. N.Y.V. 

Wilderness, Va., May, 1864. 



William O. Akin, Co. B, 126th Regt. N.Y.V. 

Atlanta, Ga., July, 1864. 
James Mehan, Co. H. 93d Regt. N. Y. V. 

Wilderness, Va., May, 18&4. 
Henrv McAlley, Co. E, 93d Regt. N.Y.V. 

Wilderness, Va., May, 1864. 
Frank Aubin, Co. E, 22d Regt. N. Y. V. 

So. Mountain Hosp., Sept., 1862. 
Edgar George Storer, Co. B, 123d Regt. N.Y.V. 

Chancellorsville, Va. Hosp., May, 1863. 
Barny Langdon, Co. H, 93d Regt. N.Y.V. 

No. Anne river, Va. Hosp., June, 1864. 



N. B. The monument was dedicated witli suitable and impressive services 
attended by a large concourse of citizens on Decoration day, May 30th, 1872. 




TOPOGRAPHY AND DESCRIPTION OF QUEENS- 
BURY. 

Boundaries of Queensbury — Westfield — Fairfield — Topogra- 
phical Description — Swamps and Surface Drainage — Streams 
AND Ponds — Keservoir and Water Works — Trout — Shad — 
The Town Plot — "^he Pitcher Tavernt^ Harrisena — The 
Oneida — Sanford's Ridge — GoodspeedvIlle — The Big Dam — 
Brown's Half- Way House and Settlement — Warren Co. Fair 
Ground. 

[UEENSBURY is one of the original townships 
erected by act of legislature on the seventh of 
March, seventeen hundred and eighty-eight, and 
its boundaries were then defined by statute as 
follows. ^ " And that all that part of the said county of 
Washington, bounded easterly by "Westfield and Kingsbury, 
and separated from Westfield by a line beginning at the north- 
west corner of the town of Kingsbury, and running in the direc- 
tion of Kingsbury west bounds, till it strikes the waters of Lake 
George, westerly by Fairfield, northerly by Lake George and a 
line running from the mouth of McAuley's creek, near the south 
end of said lake, direct to the northeast corner of the town of 
Fairfield, and southerly by the bounds of the county " (namely, 
the Hudson river, which at this point runs nearly a due east- 
erly course) " shall be, and continue a town by the name of 
Queensbury. " 

The name of the town of Westfield herein mentioned, was 
changed to Fort Ann, and that of Fairfield to Luzerne, by act 
of legislature on the sixth of April, eighteen hundred and eight, 
by reason, as the act itself explains, of the " considerable incon- 
venience " which " results from several of the towns in this state 
having the same name." 

On the twenty-second of October, seventeen hundred and 
ninety-eight, the division line between the towns of Westfield 



' Queensbury * * * then comprised the territory which now forms 
the towns of Bolton, Caldwell, Chester, Hague, Johnsburgh, Luzerne * * * 
Queensbury and Thurman, being all that part of the Co. of Washington lying W. 
of Kingsbury and Lake George." — Spafford's Gazetteer of N. T., 1813, p. 279. 



TOPOGRAPHY AND DESCRIPTION. 143 

and Queensbury was run out by the supervisors of the two 
towns assisted by Aaron Haight, surveyor, and " that portion 
of the town of Queensbury usually called Harrisena " was an- 
nexed, and erected into a separate road district. ( Town Records, 
p. 395 — 6.) About the same time, a strip of territory, one 
mile in width, was taken from the eastern limits of the town of 
Fairfield, and annexed to the western boundaries of Queens- 
bury. The following are the present legal boundaries of the 
two towns. 

" The town of Luzerne shall contain all that part of said 
county bounded on the east by a line running parallel with the 
west bounds of the township of Queensbury, at the distance of 
one mile west of said west bounds, and the same continued 
north ; on the north by an easterly continuation of the north 
bounds of the county of Saratoga, and on the west and south 
by the bounds of the county." 

" The town of Queensbury shall contain all that part of said 
county bounded southerly and easterly by the bounds of the 
county ; (viz : "by the middle of the said [north] branch and 
of the main stream of the said [Hudson's] river, until it reaches 
the southeast corner of the patent of Queensbury, with such 
variations as may be necessary to include the whole of every 
island, any part whereof is nearer to the north or east shore of 
the said river than to the south or west shore thereof, and to 
exclude the whole of every island, any part whereof is nearer to 
the said south or west shore than to the north or east shore 
aforesaid ; and easterly by the east bounds of said patent, and 
the same continued north to Lake George,") westerly by Lu- 
zerne, and northerly by a line beginning at the southwest corner 
of Caldwell and running thence easterly and northerly along the 
bounds of Caldwell to Lake George; and then along the east 
shore of Lake George to the bounds of the county." {Revised 
Statutes of New York, Fifth Edition^ vol i, pp. 137, 223.) Queens- 
bury is situated fifty miles ^ nearly due north from Albany, on 
the once great traveled mail route from the city of !N^ew York 
to Montreal via Saratoga Springs. 

The eastern and northern portions of the town are rolling 
and hilly, while the western part is one extended sandy plain, 

' Although most of the Gazetteers and guide books make the distance fifty-eight 
miles, — yet one or two of the marble mile stones planted over fifty years ago, are 
still in existence, and determine the distance to the east line of the town as I have 
stated herein. 



144 HISTOEY OP THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

originally covered with a densely timbered pine forest, which 
for the first half century gave employment to a large per cen- 
tage of the population, and to the numerous saw mills which 
were erected in the early days of the settlement on nearly every 
brook and rivulet in the town. Since then, and long within 
the memory of many living, these extensive pine plains have 
been periodically cropped of the second growth yellow pine to 
supply the increasing demand for fuel, l^ow there is less than 
five hundred acres of woodland all told, between the village and 
the mountain, and under a more thorough and intelligent system 
of agriculture, these barren sand plains are rapidly being re- 
claimed, and becoming the most remunerative of our farming 
lands. 

The western part of the town is bordered by the Palmertown 
mountains, an outlying ridge of the great Adirondack range, 
whose beginning is at the village of Saratoga Springs, and whose 
termination is at Harrington hill in Warrensburgh. At the north, 
lying partly in this town and partly in the town of Caldwell, is the 
abrupt acclivity known as French mountain, some sixteen hun- 
dred feet in height, whose sharp promontory projects for several 
miles into the head waters of Lake George. On the north-east 
the Dresden chain of mountains throws out three considerable 
elevations called the Sugar Loaf, Deer Pasture and Buck mount- 
ains, the last two of which slope down to the very verge of the 
lake, and are still the home of the deer and the rattlesnake, 
with which all this region once abounded. 

This township occupying a plateau on the great water shed 
between the Hudson and St. Lawrence rivers, its numerous 
streams, brooks, ponds and rivulets, and its surface drainage as 
well, find widely diverging outlets; that from the northern and 
central parts of the town making its way to the Half-way brook 
and thence through Wood creek to Lake Charaplain and the 
St. Lawrence, while the rivulets and marshes of Harrisena 
empty into Lake George, and those of the west, south and 
eastern parts of the town are tributary to the Hudson. It is 
noteworthy that the volume of all the streams, the river in- 
cluded, has materially diminished within the memory of the 
oldest inhabitant, while a few, by drainage and exposure to sun 
and air, have ceased to exist. The same remark holds true of 
several swamps and marshes, which in the early days of the set- 
tlement were the lairs and coverts from which wild beasts issued 



TOPOGRAPHY AND DESCRIPTION. 145 

in their predatory attacks upon the stock of the pioneers. Wild Cat 
swamp, lying upon the western borders of the village, has been 
almost entirely reclaimed, while a large portion of the Big 
Cedar swamp, stretching away for two miles from its eastern 
boundary, is now under successful cultivation. Among the 
numerous brooks, ponds and streams, with which the surface of 
the town is diversified, the following are considered worthy of 
mention. Cold brook, which for a small portion of its extent, 
forms a part of the eastern boundary of the town and county, 
runs southwardly and empties into the Hudson immediately 
opposite an island which in 1772 was deeded by one of the 
Jessups of tory memory, to Daniel Jones. This brook, and the 
flat adjacent, was the scene of a terrible massacre during the 
French war, which is elsewhere recorded. Reed's Meadow 
creek, the outlet of the Big Cedar swamp, above referred to, 
flows east and south-easterly, and after receiving various acces- 
sions in its somewhat tortuous route it becomes Fort Edward 
creek, and debouches into the Hudson, at the southern ex- 
tremity of the village of Fort Edward. Its name is derived 
from Reed Ferriss, one of the early proprietors here, and one 
of the commissioners appointed by the proprietors to apportion 
the undivided sections of the township, two of which were in- 
cluded within the limits of the swamp. Setting back from this 
outlet was a beaver dam, marsh, and meadow, where the first 
settlers supplied themselves with hay. The Meadow run de- 
rived its name similarly from a large beaver meadow, which 
was almost the only resource of the inhabitants at the corners, 
for the sustenance of their stock during the long and vigorous 
winters of this latitude. In some of the military reports and 
narratives it was called the four mile run, it being about four 
miles distant from the military post at the head of Lake George. 
This stream has its origin in the Butler pond, on a summit of a 
spur of the Palmertown mountains, in the west part of the town. 
A neighboring elevation has, from the earliest days, been known 
as Hunting hill, from the abundance of game once gathered 
there. An adjoining eminence is the seat of a rich vein of iron 
ore, which, three years since, was successfully worked under 
the auspices of the Corning Iron Company, a body of Albany 
capitalists. 

The Meadow run, after passing through an expansion of its 
waters called Mud pond, winds around the base of a series of 
19 



l46 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 



• 



knolls, and is received at the head of Long pond not far from 
the outlet of Round pond, another small sheet of water lying 
among the hills a few rods to the south. A canal was cut by Dr. 
Stowers from one of these ponds to the other some years ago, 
for lumbering purposes, but was never completed or put in 
operation. There are two or three extensive peat beds in this 
neighborhood, one of which, at the head of an estuary stretch- 
ing westwardly through the marsh which makes back from 
Long pond, has been extensively worked during the past few 
years by the Albany company above referred to. There is at 
present a saw-mill in successful and remunerative operation near 
the head waters of the Meadow run. 

Rocky brook, designated in the early road surveys, and re- 
cords of the town as Hampshire creek, is a bright, sparkling 
mountain stream, leaping and flashing along the ravine at the 
western base of French mountain, propelling two saw mills on 
its route, and winding along through meadow, woodland and 
marsh, empties into the Meadow run about twenty rods above 
the head of Long pond. On the flat west of its banks, was one 
of the three picket posts referred to in Gov. Colden's proclama- 
tion, elsewhere quoted, and which is designated on one of the 
early maps as Fort Williams. 

In the western part of the town, having its rise in the moun- 
tain ridge which separates it from Luzerne, is the once famous 
trout stream variously known as the Pitcher, the Ogden, and the 
Cleudon brook, deriving these names from persons once living 
in its vicinity. In former years it furnished the motive power 
for a number of saw mills, whose decaying debris, encumber 
its banks at varying intervals with their unsightly accumula- 
tions. Still further west, on the confines of the town. Roaring 
brook, bounding from crag and cliff, pours its cold and foaming 
waters fresh from their mountain sources into the Hudson near 
the reefs. 

The waters of Long pond are discharged through the Outlet, 
a stream which flowing eastwardly, efl:ect8 a junction with the 
Half-way brook at a settlement called Jenkins or Patten's mills, 
near the eastern boundary of the town. This brook supplies 
the power for several saw mills, a grist mill, a cider mill, and a 
woolen factory. 

The Half-way brook, which was noted in the early colonial 
times as a halting place and rendezvous for the troops and con- 



TOPOGRAPHY AND DESCRIPTION. 147 

vojs of supplies in their transit between the great military posts 
at Fort Edward, and the head of Lake George, is situated 
nearly midway between these points, and hence derives its name. 

Near the banks of this somewhat famous stream, and just 
north and west of the present plank road crossing, a block house 
and fort with a picketed enclosure of considerable magnitude 
and strength was erected about the year seventeen hundred and 
fifty-six. This, as appears by contemporaneous maps was 
named afterward Fort Amherst, in honor of the commanding 
general, to whose prowess was surrendered the hitherto impreg- 
nable fortresses at Ticonderoga and Crown Point. From time 
to time this post was enlarged and strengthened by outworks 
and embankments, rifle pits and redoubts. 

About one-third of a mile down the stream and on its right 
bank there was an outlying fortification with barracks and 
parade ground, known to this day in local tradition as the gar- 
rison ground. The remains of the old causeway and bridge on 
the north side of the brook, to the west of the plank road, are 
still visible. Here Putnam and Rogers, with their hardy rangers, 
have halted and bivouacked. Here the gallant Lord Howe, 
the pride of the English army, stopped to rest on his way to dis- 
aster and death. Here Burgoyne's advance, its gorgeously 
accoutred staff", its strange looking mercenaries with the 
daintily nurtured and beautiful Baroness Riedesel,' found 
shelter and refreshment, little dreaming of the defeat and cap- 
tivity which awaited them down through that sullen, pine 



' " On the eighth of August, General Riedesel was detached with three batta- 
lions to John's farm between Forts George and Edward, for the purpose, not only 
of covering the communication with Fort George, but to promote the conveyance 
of the convoy to the army. There, in that place, he was completely cut oflF from 
the army. So he entrenched himself in a strongly fortified camp, that he might 
be able to defend himself to the last man." — Memoirs of Madame Riedesel. 

A note to the foregoing states that " this farm was immediately north of Half- 
way brook two miles from the present pretty village of Glen's Falls. 

After the disastrous expedition of Baum and Breymann to Bennington, Burgoyne 
" entrusted to Riedesel the duty of maintaining communication with Fort Anne 
and Fort George. The latter, therefore, having with him the German regiments 
of Rhetz and Hesse Hanau, and the 47th English regiment with sis guns of 
heavy calibre, broke up camp on the 18th, marched to Fort Edward, where he 
rallied his troops, and, on the 19th, arrived at John's farm and took up a position 
in a fortified camp." — Memoirs of Gen. Riedesel, vol. i, p. 133. 

This reference to John's farm in the foregoing quotations is understood to apply 
to Jonathan Pitcher, who, being a rebel, had fled before the approach of the Eng- 
lish troops, and taken refuge in the American camp below. 



148 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBUEY 

shaded corduroy road leading towards Bemis's Heights. And 
here, too, Abraham Wing and the pioneer settlers of the town- 
ship, found a dubious welcome, and their first night's lodging 
on the scene of their future labors. 

The Half-way brook has its source in the same mountain 
range, and but a short distance west from the head w^aters of 
its sister stream, the Meadow run. Near the foot of the moun- 
tain, and nearly encircled by hills, is a natural basin, which, 
during thepastseasou has been artificially enlarged, and cleaned; 
and a massive wall of masonry thrown across its outlet, for the 
formation of a reservoir to supply the Glen's Falls water-works, 
a public and much needed improvement, which has been but 
recently completed at a cost of about eighty thousand dollars. 
The surplus and waste water is directed back to its wonted 
channel immediately below the reservoir. Running a tortuous 
course south eastwardly across the plains,, the Half-way brook 
expands into the Forge pond, a small sheet of water, about one 
and a half miles west of the village of Glen's Falls, and for a 
long period the favorite resort of the disciples of the gentle 
Isaac Walton, in pursuit of the speckled trout which once 
abounded in this stream. At this point, as far back as the year 
eighteen hundred and eleven, a forge and trip hammer shop 
were erected by an enterprising pioneer named Johnson. At 
the same time, a saw mill was built which is still in operation, 
and which for years supplied the neighborhood, and sent to 
market the products of the neighboring forests. The manu- 
facture of iron for some cause did not prove remunerative, and 
the enterprise, after languishing a few years, was finally aban- 
doned leaving its name, however, to the pond as a parting legacy, 
and a reminder of the old French proverb, that " it is only 
success that succeeds." About a mile below, and nearly oppo- 
site to the garrison ground already referred to, is an enlarge- 
ment of the Half-way brook called Briggs's pond, at the foot of 
which stands a dam and race way, affording power and facili- 
ties for the works of the Glen's Falls brick company. Here, at 
the close of the last century, stood a saw mill ; while across the 
flat, some forty or fifty rods further west, in a ravine partly 
natural, but enlarged by the hand of art, stood a large grist- 
mill, carried by water, conducted by a canal, artificially con- 
structed, and leading from the pond above named. These mills 
were owned and run by Walter Briggs, and were resorted to 



TOPOGRAPHY AND DESCRIPTION. 149 

by the inhabitants and farmers from far and near, at a period 
when there was no grist-mill at Glen's Falls. The buildings 
have long since been torn down or removed, but the embank- 
ments of the canal, and the foundations of the mill are still con- 
spicuous in the green meadow. From this point the Half-way- 
brook bears north eastwardly through a continuation of swale, 
marsh, and meadow, creeping sluggishly along at the base of 
the ridge, and passes the Kingsbury town line in the neigh- 
borhood of a settlement bearing the euphonious name of Frog 
hollow. A basin among the hills, half a mile to the west of 
the settlement called the Oneida, contains a circular sheet of 
water, a few acres in extent, known as the Round pond. 
Here was built, among the pines, on its shore, the first Baptist 
church of Queensbury. A small enclosure near by, contains 
one of the oldest burial places in town. 

Butler brook, near the north bounds of the corporation limits 
of Glen's Falls, has its source in three small brooks, one of which 
receives the drainage of the Wild Cat swamp and west part of 
the village, the second crosses the plank road at the old Mallory 
place, and the third has its source in a swale a little north of 
the Warren county fair grounds. It was on this branch, tra- 
dition informs us, that in the year seventeen hundred and 
eighty-three, while on his way to visit, and inspect the fortifi- 
cations at Lake George, Ticonderoga, and Crown Point, 
General Washington and staff" halted to slake their thirst, and 
were waited upon with a cup and pail and a supply of water 
from the brook, by Jeremiah Briggs, who was at work in a 
neighboring field. This stream derived its name from one of 
the earliest settlers, who lived in its vicinity. Espousing the 
royal cause, at or during the war, he buried such of his effects 
as he could, and fled to Canada. His house shared the fate of 
most of the buildings in this vicinity at that time, being burnt 
by the savages and tories in one of their numerous eruptions. 
The Butler brook after the confluence of its branches winds 
around the cemetery grounds, and unites with the Half-way 
brook about two miles north of Glen's Falls, midway between 
the Eiidge and Bay roads. 

These ponds and streams, during the early days of the set- 
tlement, were abundantly stocked with trout, which, with the 
game, then so plentiful in the surrounding forests, constituted 
a large portion of the resources of the inhabitants. It was 



150 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

related to me by one of the patriarchs of the town that in a 
winter of uncommon severity, some of the families in Harrisena 
carried through their stock of cattle on a supply of salted fish 
of which they had secured a large quantity the preceding 
season. Until the erection of dams and mills, shad ran up in 
the spring as far as the Falls where they were caught in consider- 
able quantities, and were to some extent an article of commerce. 

The original survey of the township contemplated the location 
of the village at the Half-way brook, where the existing clearings 
and buildings offered a strong inducement to the first settlers to 
locate their houses. Here the town plot was laid out, ranging 
due north and south. The lots were often acres each and forty- 
four in number, beside the road ways, four rods in width, sur- 
rounding the whole, an eight rod road in each direction, bisect- 
ing the plot into four equal sections. Four central lots at these 
angles were reserved for church and school purposes and for 
public buildings. Either half to the east and west was also 
divided by a north and south road four rods in width. 

It is needless to sa}^ that no settlement was ever established 
here, and that Champlain's tannery, and the Pitcher tavern 
occupying the site just north of the Half-way brook upon 
which a brick house now stands, are the nearest approach to 
public buildings erected on the site of this projected village, 
after the original survey by Zaccheus Towner in 1762. The 
old Pitcher tavern was a place of considerable note in those 
days when every log hut was an inn, and every framed dwell- 
ing a hotel. It was kept by Jonathan Pitcher, whose name 
frequently appears in the town records, chiefly in connection 
with matters pertaining to the excise law, on two occasions he 
being excused by a vote of the people, from paying his license. 

Harrisena is a neighborhood at the north part of the town, 
and derives its name from the original founders of the settle- 
ment. The region comprising this somewhat vaguely defined 
locality, includes some of the most fertile and productive farm- 
ing lands in the county of Warren. The Harrisena patent 
proper embraced two thousand acres of land, and was originally 
conveyed to Robert Ilarpur and others, but the grant for some 
cause was surrendered to the crown, and reissued in 1772 to 
John Lawrence, Henry Boel and Stephen Tuttle, who relin- 
quished or sold their title to Moses Harris. He, with another 
brother, settled upon it in 1787, and in the following January 



TOPOGEAPHY AND DESCRIPTION. 151 

obtained certificates of location of the same, with several other 
rights or claims, embracing in all a territory of between three 
and four thousand acres. At about the same time, Joshua 
Harris secured certificates of location for four lots of two hun- 
dred acres each in the same vicinity. These lands have mostly 
remained in the hands of the Harris family and their descend- 
ants to the present day. The first house erected here was a 
log tenement, built near a spring about ten rods south-east of 
the Rufus Harris place. Joseph Harris was the first settler, and 
moved here about the year 1784. The next was a framed 
house, and was built for Moses Harris by John Phettyplace. 
It stood near the site occupied by the Henry Harris homestead. 
This wealthy and thriving agricultural district has in the course 
of years become thickly and compactly settled, for a farming 
region, possessing admirable public schools, two churches one 
of which has a settled pastor ; its ailments cared for by a resi- 
dent physician ; many of its wants provided for and supplied 
by home mechanics ; while bordering upon the bays and points 
jutting in and out around the head of Lake George are several 
pleasant and attractive places of resort, where travelers, invalids, 
pleasure seekers, business men, worn out with the wearying and 
incessant round of business cares, repair year by year in con- 
stantly increasing numbers, for that rest and recuperation, so 
difficult to find among the hot, crowded thoroughfares of our 
fashionable resorts, and summer watering places. 

Five miles to the north of the village of Glen's Falls, on the 
road to Harrisena, is situated a small settlement, which, for up- 
wards of fifty years has borne in local colloquial phrase, the name 
of the Oneida. The attempt has been made to call it North- 
ville, and Middleville, but no eflbrt to shake oti:* the former 
appellation has been successful. About the time of the last 
war with England, this was a place of considerable import- 
ance, having two good sized and well patronized inns, three 
stores doing a quite extensive trade, a large lumbering business, 
in connection with adjacent mills, various mechanic shops, and 
a Baptist church and society. Here two noted justices of the 
peace, Dan D. Scott, and James Henderson, held their weekly 
and august tribunals, at which as many as one hundred and 
seventy summonses, besides criminal processes and subpoenas 
have been made returnable in one day. Every Saturday, 
sometimes oftener, from fifty to two hundred people assembled 



152 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY 

here to listen to the encounter of argument, the brilliant collision 
of wit and repartee, and the splendid oratory of that gifted and 
eloquent array of legal talent, which then graced the bar of 
Warren and Washington counties. 

The first house at the Oneida was erected by Joshua Chase 
about the year 1793. The name was derived from a half breed 
Oneida Indian, by the name of Thomas Hammond. He, with 
his sister Dinah, were brought up by Capt. Green of Whipple 
city, now Greenwich, Washington county, N. Y. Some little 
time previous to the outbreak of the war he removed to Queens- 
bury, and opened a store of general merchandise in a building 
which is still standing on the corner opposite and fronting the 
old tavern stand ; and here, for a number of years, he was en- 
gaged in carrying on a considerable trade, mixed up to some 
extent with the lumbering business. From the often repeated 
expressions, " let's go up to the Oneida's," " I bought this at the 
Oneida's," " we must send down to the Oneida's," was derived the 
name which through the vicissitudes of half a century has clung 
like a burr to the settlement. Hammond married Keziah, a 
sister of James Reynolds of Caldwell. Pursued by the red man's 
curse, an unappeasable appetite for the terrible fire water, he 
finally failed in business, removed to French mountain, and 
died a wretched inebriate and outcast. Since then, the magnifi- 
cent pine forests which once stretched their serried ranks across 
plain and hill side, from the lake to the Kingsbury line, have 
been cut down, the local traffic has diminished, and the import- 
ance of the settlement decreased. 

One or two stores, however, are still kept up, and a few artisans 
still ply their craft in a humble way. Some change in the route 
of travel or tlje drift of commerce, may yet occur to revive the 
dormant activity of this quiet settlement. 

The Ridge, or Sanford's ridge, is a name applied to a 
thickly settled farming district, stretching a distance of three 
or four miles along a crest of rich, arable land beginning 
about two miles north of Glen's Falls village, and terminating 
beyond the town line on the east. Toward the close of the 
last century, this was a settlement of greater size and im- 
portance than the village at the Falls. At that time, there 
were two etores, a tavern, several mechanic shops and two 
physicians. In the year 1800 the Quaker church was built 
on the corners two miles north of the village. The first 
settler at the Ridge was Elijah Bartow who plied his trade 



TOPOGRAPHY AND DESCRIPTION. 153 

as a blacksmith on what is known as the Gould Sanford farm. 
He lived in a log house near by. One of the first framed houses 
in the neighborhood was built and occupied by James Tripp 
on the site now covered by the residence of Joseph Haviland. 
Abraham Tucker about the same time built on the farm south- 
west of the Quaker church. This neighborhood derived its 
name from David Sanford, Esq., who, in 1795, removed from 
the town of New Milford, Conn., to Queensbury and established 
himself in trade at this point. For the next ten years he was 
prominently identified with the business interests of the town, 
and the development of its resources. He was frequently chosen 
to office, and up to the time of his death was a man of mark 
and consideration. 

One and a half miles westward from Glen's Falls is a strag- 
gling suburb which bears the name of Goodspeedville. This 
settlement was founded about the year 1845, by a keen, shrewd 
speculator named Stephen Goodspeed, who in 1842, bought of 
Allan Gow, a tract of pine plain land, known as the Skinner 
farm. Meeting with but indifferent success as a farmer, the 
purchase was laid out into village lots, and was sold in quantities 
to suit purchasers, many of whom built upon and occupied their 
newly acquired homes. Thus a small hamlet was gradually 
gathered, whose residents chiefly find employment upon the 
neighboring mills, and river, or as laborers at farm work; while 
a few find more profitable or desirable occupation in mechanical 
pursuits, for which the outgrowth of the adjacent village occasions 
an ever increasing demand. 

The construction of the .ISTorthern canal eventuated in the 
erection of the big dam across the Hudson river, two miles 
above Glen's Falls. This structure as originally built was seven 
hundred and seventy feet long, by twelve feet high, and was 
primarily intended to secure a permanent supply of water for 
the summit level of the Northern canal above Fort Edward. 
The Glen's Falls feeder was a contemporaneous work, at first a 
big ditch, afterwards enlarged, with the addition of locks, 
and completed for navigable use, as elsewhere stated, about the 
year 1832. This dam was rebuilt in a very substantial manner 
in 1872, at the expense of the state, about two feet in height 
added, and its security protected by massive and expensive stone 
work at either extremity. A strong and well constructed guard 
20 



154 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

lock admits the waters of the river, and permits the passage of 
lighters to and from the mills on the opposite side of the river. 
Contemporaneous with the construction of the dam, was the 
erection of saw mills', and as a consequence of this important 
industry, quite a settlement has grown up in the neighborhood, 
the buildings being mostly occupied with the laborers and em- 
ployes engaged upon these works. 

Another thriving settlement in town, has been built up near 
the upper toll gate on the Glen's Falls and Lake George plank 
road, chiefly through the energy and enterprise of Mr. George 
Brown, proprietor of the half-way-house, and a lineal de- 
scendant in the fourth remove from Valentine Brown, one of 
the original settlers of the town. The post office at this point, 
which has been established for more than twenty years, bears 
the name of French Mountain, while another, situated near 
the outlet, about four miles eastwardly, is called Queens- 
bury post office. A blacksmith and wagon-shop, a tin-shop, 
store, saw-mill, and other industries are here gathered as a 
nucleus and promise of future growth. The half-way-house, 
kept by Mr. Brown, is a place of frequent resort by pleasure 
travelers in the summer season, who find a more than common 
attraction in the genial hospitalities, and home like comforts of 
this place. From the beginning of the century, and even dating 
farther back, this locality has been famous for its well kept 
tavern, which, in those early days, occupied the corner on the 
east side of the street facing the present building. In the first 
instance this was an unpretentious log dwelling occupied and 
kept by David Buck. This was ^,t a later date replaced by a 
framed building, where Buck was succeeded in the course of 
time by his widow. Here for many years, and until within a 
comparatively recent period, town meetings, elections, and 
political gatherings were periodically held. The building was 
torn down about the time the plank road was constructed, and 
replaced by the present structure. Until the purchase and 
completion of the fair ground in the vicinity of. Glen's Falls, 
the Warren county fairs were for several years held in this 
neighborhood, where with great liberality Mr. Brown had, at 
his own expense, erected the necessary buildings, secured the 
enclosure with a suitable, substantial fence, and laid out and 
graded a trotting course, all of which are now rapidly mouldering 
to decay. 




^ -w^ 



TOPOGRAPHY AND DESCRIPTION. 155 

The "Warren county fair grounds, which are located a short 
distance above the north bounds of the corporation of Glen's 
Falls, were purchased in the year 1868 by a company qf gentle- 
men residing in the village, who with great liberaHty advanced 
means for erecting suitable buildings, grading, preparing and 
ornamenting the grounds, and making the enterprise not only 
a success, but in no way inferior by comparison with similar 
undertakings. For his special efforts in behalf of this society, 
its officers and members, in the fall of 1873, presented Hon. 
Jerome Lapham, (a) one of the stockholders in the above named 
association, with a service of plate. 

(a) The Hon. Jerome Lapham, second son of Jonathan and Elizabeth S. (Healy) 
Lapham, was born in Queensbury on the 4th of December, 1823. He was the 
grandson of Stephen Lapham, whose name figures conspicuously in the early town 
■ records, and who, accompanied by his wife and six daughters, came to 
this town from the island of Nantucket, as nearly as can be ascertained, 
about the year 1785. He was born in 1762, and was killed by the falling 
from the shed of the then new Quaker Meeting House at the Ridge, in 1802. He was 
engaged in shingling the roof, slipped, fell, and struck his head upon a pile of 
stones, which caused his immediate death. He was a farmer by occupation. 
When he came here he bought several hundred acres of heavily timbered land 
lying between the Bay and Ridge roads, afterwards cleared and sold off for farms 
to various parties. The Lapham homestead was on the site covered by the dwell- 
ing owned and occupied by the late Grant Haviland. Stephen Lapham was a 
member of the society of Friends, and was a person widely esteemed, and of con- 
siderable influence. 

The subject of this sketch removed with his parents to Glen's Falls in the spring 
of 1833. His early education was derived from such advantages as were afforded 
in the district schools of his neigborhood, and one term of tuition at the Glen's 
Falls Academy. At the tender age of twelve he commenced the great struggle of 
existence, by working out on a fann. From that date, the rapidly shifting 
views of his life, find him variously employed, up to his twe .ty-second year, 
as canal driver, boat hand, teamster, errand boy, clerk. He then went to 
New York and remained about six months in partnership with an uncle in a 
retail tea and sugar store. At the end of this time, he returned to Glen's Falls, not 
much better off" than he left, but with a fund of valuable experience. He now en- 
tered into partnership with James Morgan, in whose employment he had already 
served a long apprenticeship, and who, at the time named, was carrying on an 
extended, and well established mercantile business on the corner of Glen and Ex- 
change streets, on the site now occupied by Messrs. Coolidge & Lee. In 1850 
he became largely interested in a heavy lumber purchase in the 16th town- 
ship, which was increased and extended by the firm afterward from time to time 
as opportunity offered. In addition to this, their business was augmented by the 
establishment of a freighting and transpoi'tation line on the Northern canal, and 
Glen's Falls feeder. This, at first small in its proportions, was gradually extended 
to a line of eight boats. The mercantile business was disposed of to Mr. Charles 
. Rice in 1856. The lumber interest increased in its extent and importance until 
1863, when Mr. Lapham disposed of his share, and retired on what he considered 
a competency. Since that time, he has been largely identified with the public 



156 



HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 



interests and improvements of the place. Has been elected supervisor of the town 
four terms; held that responsible position during the important crisis of 1864-5, 
when, by virtue of his office, he was also chairman of the town war committee, 
and for three years gave almost his entire time to the many complicated questions 
growing out of that relation. He was also elected to the assembly of 1865, and 
served ably, and satisfactorily to his constituents in that capacity. He was one of 
a few public spirited individuals whose action in favor of a horse railroad to Fort 
Edward resulted in securing our present steam communication M'ith the great busi- 
ness and commercial centres. He has been for several years a director in the First 
National Bank of Glen's Falls, and of the Glen's Falls Insurance Company. He 
was also one of a few whose public spirit, despite clamor or calumny, has pushed 
through, to successful operation, the admirable system of water-works wLich 
our village now possesses. 

Mr. Lapham is yet in the flush and vigor of an active manhood, and has still 
before him a future whose golden freighted fruit has yet to mature and ripen, 
before the sturdy trunk will bend to the weight of its burden or bow to the infirm 
ities of years. 




THE ARCH, glen's FALLS. 





FIKST NATIONAL BANK, GLEN'S PALLS. 




NAMES OF LOCALITIES. 

)S an appropriate sequel to the topographical descrip- 
tion of the town of Queensbury, there is herewith 
appended a list of names of places and buildings, 
the far greater portion of which have been met with 
in the early road surveys, and other town records. 

To these have been added some obtained from the Wing, the 
Robards and the Peck Manuscripts, and other old family 
papers. In a few instances designations of modern or more 
recently constructed buildings have been introduced both for 
the sake of illustration, and to give opportunity for a fitting 
description. 

Whenever it has been practicable to obtain them, dates have 
been affixed to show the contemporaneous use and application 
of these terms. 

Austin's, Phineas, mill, 1808. A saw mill situated on the outlet of the 
Big pond. 

Austin's, Solomon, mill, 1808. A saw mill situated on the outlet of the 
Big pond. 

Baldwin's mill, 1854, 7. A saw mill situated near the left bank of the 
Hudson river, on the waste weir leading from the Glen's Falls 
feeder, about half way between Glen's Falls and Sandy Hill. 

Bank, The First National of Glen's Falls. Was first organized in Jan- 
uary, 1853, as the Commercial Bank of Glen's Falls, in what was 
then known as the Sherwood building, erected somewhere about 
1841 or '2, on the same site covered by the present structure. It 
was purchased by the bank of W. S. Sherwood for S2,800, and was 
destroyed'in the great conflagration of 1864. The present building 
was erected the same year at a cost of $18,000. Architect, Walter 
Dickson, of Albany; builders, D. C. Holman, mason, Morgan & 
Wright, carpenters. Original capital unchanged $136,400. Average 
circulation, $120,000. Average deposits since 1865, $300,000. 
Reorganized as a National bank April, 1865. 

OFFICERS. 

President, .. William McDonald, from organization. 

" .. Augustus Sherman, from November 23d, 1858 



NAMES OF LOCALITIES. 159 

Vice President, Bethuel Peck, from organization. 

" " Augustus Sherman, (a) from February, 1855 

" " Linus B. Barnes, from November, 1858 

" " James Morgan, from February, 1861 

" " Jerome Lapham, from November, 1873 

Cashier, .. Isaiah Scott, from organization. 

" .. Fred. A. Johnson jr., from April, 1859 

" .. Emmett Johnson, from January, 1865 

Original Board of Directors. 

Lewis Hunt, James C. Clark, William W. Rockwell, 

Bethuel Peck, Keyes P. Cool, James Morgan, 

Hermon Peck, William H. Warren, Quartus Curtis, 

Augustus Sherman, Erskine Gr. Clark, Joseph Russell. 
William McDonald, 



(a) The subject of this sketch, was born in the town of Arlingrton, Vt., on the 
eleventh of February, 1801. He was the son of Ware Darwin, and Anna D. (Can- 
field) Sherman, the latter of Arlington, Vt., the former from Conway, Mass., 
whence the Sherman family in this country is understood to have originated. By 
his father's side he was nearly connected to the distinguished statesman and 
patriot, Roger Sherman, of Revolutionary fame : by the mother, to the Rev. Dr. 
Canfield, the eminent divine. 

At the tender age of five years, his parents removed first to Kingsbury, N. Y., 
and the following spring to the then frontier settlement of Fairfield, now Luzerne 
on the Hudson river. His only opportunities for an education were derived from 
winter attendance upon such schools as the sparsely settled lumber districts of 
our wilderness border can afford, added to one winter's schooling in his native 
town. 

The father followed the mingled pursuits of lumbering and farming, and the 
son early learned the necessity of hard and exhaustive application, to severe and 
rough work. Before the Glen's Falls feeder was constructed he used to draw 
lumber across from Corinth or biy falls, raft it in cribs to the bend and from thence 
take it across to Deadman's point above Fort Edward ; and after the big dam at 
that place was built, it was carried still further down the river to Rogers' land- 
ing, opposite Schuyler's island, whence it was rafted to market. 

With the opening of the Glen's Fall feeder, he was among the first to place a 
boat on its waters for the transportation of lumber. When but fifteen years of 
age, when boys of the present day are next to helpless, he was obliged to wagon 
lumber alone to Albany, attending both to sales and purchases, with the care and 
thoughtfulness of an adult. The following season, in conseqvience of his father's 
financial troubles and difficulties, he was obliged to take charge and management 
of the entire business, working early and late with unfiagging perseverance in 
order to help his father out of debt. 

His first venture in the lumbering business on his own account, was running 
an old English mill, with two saws, which stood on a small stream which empties 
into the Hudson near the residence of Thurlow Leavins in Luzerne. At the same 
time he had the running of a grist mill near by, and at this laborious, double 
task, besides drawing and rafting his lumber to market, he laid the foundation 



elected September, 


1853 


u 


February, 


1854 


u 


July, 


1854 


u 


February, 


1855 



160 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURT. 

Since organization the following changes have occurred in the board, 
viz : 

Jeremy llockwell, 

William A. Fonda, . 

Isaiah Scott, .... 

Levi Hatch, .... 

Enos Howland, .... 

Henry Ferguson, 

RuliffKipp, .... 

Ira Harris, .... 

Charles R. Richards, . 

Daniel Sweet, .... 

U. G. Paris, .... 

Linus B. Barnes, («) 

James Morgan, .... 



1856 



1857 
1858 



August, 



for the princely fortune he has since attained. Three years later he took the 
Buttolph mill further down the river. 

He was married on the fourth of March, 1824, to a young lady by the name of 
Nancy Weed, who was at that time engaged in teaching in the neighborhood. He 
had nine children by this marriage, all of whom are living but three. Having dis- 
posed of his interest in Luzerne, in the winter of 1840-41, he removed to the 
feeder dam, where he resumed the manufacture of lumber on a larger scale, with 
increased facilities. Two years later he came to Glen's Falls, which has since been 
made his permanent residence. Year by year, with increased means at command, 
his lumber operations became more and more extended, until they assumed 
colossal proportions. His timber land investments commenced about the time of 
his removal to Glen's Falls, by a pur(?liase in the sixteenth township. This resulted 
in prompt and lucrative returns. Since that period he has seemed to have the 
gift of the golden touch. Possessed of rare good judgment, and strong common 
sense, his investments, numerous and varied as they have been, have been in- 
variably prospered in every direction, until he has attained an aggregate fortune, 
equal if not greater than that of any person in the county. 

His wife died 12th June, 1848. On the first of September, 1856, he was married 
again to ( 'harlotte H., daughter of the Rev. T. L. Conkling, of Martinsburgh, Lewis 
Co., N. Y. There have been four children born by this marriage, none of whom 
now survive. As shown by the record he is associated either as trustee, director 
manager or president, in nearly all of our monied corporations. He was the first 
president of the Glen's Falls Paper Mill Co., and also of the Bald Mountain Lime 
Company. Having retired within the last two or three years from his more ex- 
tended pursuits, he has interested himself in the erection of a handsome and costly 
block of stores and offices, which beais his name, and will, it is hoped, prove not 
only an elegant addition to our village, but an enduring fame, a monument sacred 
and perpetual to bis memory. Still vigorous and active for his years, genial and 
kind hearted, it is to be hoped that the downhill slope of life will be spread out 
for him in many a green fic^ld, many a flowery nook, many a pleasant and sunny 
expanse, enjoying to the fullest extent of earthly capacity the well earned fruits 
of his early toil. 

(a) Linus B.\tes Barnes, son of John and Mary (Bates) Barnes, was born at 
Granville, Camden Co., Mass., on the 6th of June, 1803, where his infancy and 
youth were passed, and where he received the only educational advantages ever 





^<-6^AZ5 




"<^'^oia)i 



/ 



NAMES OF LOCALITIES. 



161 



elected January, 
" February, 



1859 
1860 



October, " 

February, 1862 

1864 

" 1865 

August, 1867 

brook at the West 



Alexander Robertson, 

Henry Crandell, 

Jerome Lapham, .... " " *' 

Samuel Pruyn, " " 1861 

Gustavus A. Austin, ... " " " 

Nathaniel Barker, . . . . " " " 

Charles Fowler, .... " 

Lifelet Harris, " 

William H. Gayger, ... 

Daniel V. Brown, . . . . " 

William McEachron, ... " 

Martin Coffin, " 

Barber's, David, saw mill, 1837. On the trout 

mountain. 
Bay, Big. An expansion of the Hudson river above the big bend. 
Bay, Little. An enlargement of the Hudson river above the Big bay, and 

a short distance east from the original town boundary. 
Bend, Big. A bold curve in the Hudson river about three miles above 

Glen's Falls, shaped something like the letter U, and enclosing a 

peninsula of two or three square miles. 

placed within his reach. At the early age of fourteen he commenced the great 
struggle of life as a clerk in a mercantile establishment at Hartford, Conn., where 
he remained for a number of years. It was at this formative period of his career 
that he became impressed with the truths of Divine Revelation, and was made the 
subject of saving grace. Before he had completed his fifteenth year he united 
with the church under the pastorate of Dr. Hawes, and from that time up to the 
period when the javelin of death assailed him at the portals of his own church 
doors, he was a consistent, ardent and zealous member of the Presbyterian church. 

His first business venture on his own account was in trade at Blandford, Mass., 
about the year 1826. Here he remained for seven years, with something more 
than average success, and acquired the repute of a thorough and energetic busi- 
ness man. 

On the 19th of November, 1828, he was married to Miss Emily Treat. 

About the year 1833 he removed to the city of Albany, where he engaged in 
the leather business. Two years later he removed his family to Glen's Falls, and, 
at the same time embarked in the manufacture of leather at Johnsburgh, in this 
county. At this point, for a period of twenty years, his business interests were 
large and important. In 1846 a bank, the only one ever in the county north of 
Glen's Falls, was started, and continued in successful operation for about ten 
years. Of this, called The Warren County Bank, Mr. Barnes was president. It was 
a bank of issue, and at one time had a circulation of $180,000. Its affairs were so 
judiciously conducted under his management that it was a source of handsome 
revenue to its stockholders, and when its circulation was called in, every dollar 
was redeemed that was presented, and an outstanding deposit made sufficient to 
liquidate all further claims. 

About the year 1860 Mr. Barnes discontinued his connection with the Johnsburgh 
tannery. Hopelessly involved and crippled through causes which it is not our pro- 
21 



162 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

Black Snake. A crooked reach in the Glen's Falls feeder, about one 
mile below the village, near the Jointa Lime Company's kilns. 

Blind rock, the. 1787, 1808, '19. See pages 14, 15, 16. 

Block island swamp, 1810, 11. The western portion of the ^ig Cedar 
swamp' contains an island of this name, which, in seasons 
of high water is almost inaccessible. It is supposed that a small 
block house was built here during the Revolutionary war, and that 
it was within its shelter that Polly Wing took refuge with her son 
Daniel W., at the time of Carleton's invasion in 1780. 

Boom, the Big. A structure built by the associated lumbermen of Fort 
Edward, Sandy Hill and Glen's Falls for the purpose of catching 
and securing the large bodies of logs often floated down by the spring 
freshets in the Hudson river. It is situated at the Big bend, about 
three miles up the river from Glen's Falls, and is composed of large 
logs and timbers bolted and chained together, and supported by 
numerous piers placed diagonally and at frequent intervals across 
the stream 

Bridge, Bentley's, 1799. A bridge crossing the Outlet, on the Dunham's 
bay road. 

Bridge, the Hunters', 1798. A well known place to sportsmen, it 
having been a famous runway for deer and other game- It spans 
a small rivulet, about forty rods west of the Bay road, at the rear 
of Jonathan Potter's residence, and on the by-road leading thence 
to the plank road by Brown's pond. 

vince to canvass, he surrendered all that he had to his creditors, and started life 
anew with penury and want staring him in the face. He met the struggle with 
a serene and brave spirit, and never, to the last day of his existence, slackened in 
the honorable endeavor to win his bread and support by honest industry. He has 
always, since his residence in Glen's Falls, held a large measure in the respect of the 
community. Public spirited and energetic, he has never been found wanting in open 
and earnest adhesion to all principles which tend to the uplift of humanity and the 
conservation of public morals. On the question of temperance, particularly, his 
voice and eiforts were ever ready to sustain and advocate its most ultra doctrines 
and carry into execution its most thorough and radical measures. 

Among the first to secure a lot in the new cemetery, his last surviving child, his 
father and sister were in rapid succession consigned to its peaceful shades, and in 
view of the interest and attention he bestowed upon the city of the dead, he was 
made superintendent, a position which he had held uninterrupted!)' up to the 
time of his death. He was twice or thrice elected coroner. For upwards of thirty 
years he was a ruling elder and twenty years a trustee of the church in whose 
communion he lived and died. 

His death, which was sudden and unlocked for, occurred on the evening of 
Monday, the 6th of January, 1873. He accompanied his wife to church to attend 
the first meeting of the week of prayer. He had not felt well before leaving home. 
After reaching tlie church, his breathing became difficult and labored, and he rested 
awhile on the steps in tlie church porch before entering tlie church. Continuing 
to grow worse, he was taken home, and shortly after sank away to that last, deep, 
dreamless sleep of death. 



NAMES OF LOCALITIES. 163 

Bridge, the river, 1798. The town records show that John A. Fer- 
riss was at this date allowed eight dollars and a half for services 
done on the river bridge, thereby establishing the fact that a bridge 
across the river then existed. Four years later a grant was ob- 
tained for a toll bridge, in which Gen. Warren Ferriss was at first 
largely interested, but which afterward became the property of 
John Folsom. 

Briggs's, Jeremiah, mill, 1838-44. A grist mill on the Half-way brook 
at the foot of Briggs's pond, near the present brick yard. 

Brook, the Cold, 1798, 1808-24. A small stream on the eastern bound- 
ary of the town in Harrisena, running north and emptying into 
Lake George. 

Another stream bearing the same name crosses the road near 
Sandy Hill and empties into the Hudson river. It also forms for 
a short distance the eastern boundary of the town. 

Brown's mill. A saw mill on Rocky brook, a short distance east of 
Brown's Half-way house, on the road leading to the Oneida. 

Brown's pond. Sometimes also called the Round pond. A lovely sheet 
of water near to and south of the Big pond, near the road leading 
from the brick yard north towards the plank road. It empties 
into the Meadow run, a short distance from the point where that 
stream delivers its waters into the Big pond. 

Carman's neck, 1789. The narrowest reach or isthmus of the peninsula 
enclosed by the Big bend. So named from John Carman, an ori- 
ginal proprietor under the Prindle patent. The title, however, 
subsequently failed by reason of its being included within the 
limits of the great Kayaderosseras patent. 

Caves, the. Passages worn by the action of water through the bed rock 
at Glen's Falls. Some of them are quite spacious, admitting of 
several persons standing erect in them, at the same time. They 
have been made famous as the scene of some startling but wholly 
fictitious adventures in the novel, The Last of the Mohicans, by 
J. Fenimore Cooper. 

Cedar landing, 1843. One of the numerous points, which fringe the 
Queensbury boundaries of Lake George. 

Cemetery, the. A place of sepulture originally consisting of sixteen 
acres bought by the corporation of Glen's Falls in 1854. The 
original ground is nearly filled, but large additions have been made 
to the original purchase. 

Champlain's tannery. A well known establishment on the Half-way 
brook, at the plank road crossing, two miles north of Glen's Falls. 
It has been in operation for about fifty years, and has only been 
discontinued within the past two or three years. 



164 HISTORY OP THE TOWN OP QUEENSBURY. 

Chapman's, Porter S., inn. 1834-5. A large public house, originally 
consisting of a story and a half leanto, which was built as early as 
1812, on the site of the grass plot in front of Mrs. James C. Finch's 
residence ; and an old fashioned swing sign for a number of years 
commemorated the event by the following inscription, 

COFFEE 

HO USE, 

1812. 

It was enlarged to a spacious and comfortable building by its pro- 
prietor, Samuel G. Skinner, in 1814. At this time an infair and 
ball was held, at which the best society of the surrounding country 
was present, much to the annoyance of John A. Ferriss, the owner 
of the Glen's Falls Hotel. The feeling of rivalry was so great be- 
tween the two houses that Skinner on this occasion sent to Albany 
for a professional cook. The entertainment must have been a 
sumptuous affair, to have retained a place in the memory of man 
for a period of sixty years. The hotel was kept by Skinner for a 
number of years. The name was afterwards changed to the Union 
Hotel. It was burned about the year 1842. 

Church, the west. A Union church edifice erected at the West moun- 
tain about forty years ago, chiefly through the exertions and aid of 
the late Halsey Burnham. It is now occupied chiefly, if not ex- 
clusively, by the Baptists. 

Clendon brook, the. A bright, sparkling, mountain stream arising in 
the West mountain, and running through the Clendon farm ; once 
famous for its trout, and known as the trout brook, in the early 
days of the settlement. Lower down it bears the name of the 
Ogden brook, and the Pitcher brook. 

CoSQROVE Music Hall. Originally called the Cosgrove Opera House. 
Built by Messrs. Keeffe and Amer in 1869, at a cost of twenty 
thousand dollars. Size 50 X 75 feet. This admirable hall, elegantly 
and tastefully decorated, and finished, has a seating capacity for 
about one thousand persons. A spacious and well arranged gallery 
and a stage of 20 by 50 feet, with drop curtains and full set of 
scenery on flats. The acoustic properties of the hall are simply 
perfect, and the arrangements for lighting ample and complete. The 
illustration exhibits on the right, a corner of the old Union Hall, 
adjoining, which was built immediately after the great fire, and was 
for several years, the only public hall in the place. 
Cronkhite's hotel. A popular place of entertainment, and quiet sum- 
mer resort, on the east side of Lake George, near the north-eastern 
boundary of the town. 



NAMES OF LOCALITIES. 



165 



Cronkhite's mill. A saw mill, now no longer in use, near the river, 
below the quarries, and opposite the Jointa Lime Company's kilns. 
Another mill, bearing the same name, and belonging to the same 
proprietor, was situated at the Little bay, in the west part of the 
town. 

Dam, Big. A structure twelve feet in height built by the state across 
the Hudson river two miles above Glen's Falls, at the time of the 
construction of the Glen's Falls feeder, for the purpose of creating a 
pond and level adequate for the supply of water in the Northern 
canal. It was very substantially rebuilt in 1872, and about two 
feet added to its height. There are large lumber manufacturing 
establishments at either end of the dam. 




COSGROVE MUSIC HALL. 



Danford's, Samuel, inn, 1812. A lumberman and river driver's board- 
ing house and resort, at Big bay on the Moreau side, in the early 
days when the lumber manufactured up the river, was rafted down 
in cribs to this place, taken out carried across to Deadman's 
point at Fort Edward, and thence rafted down the river to find a 
market in Troy and Albany or New York. 



166 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

Derby's, John, hotel, 1816. The old Wing stand something remodelled 
and rejuvenated. A noted inn of that day. It stood on the site 
of Cowles & Co.'s store. 

Dunham's bay, 1819-21. A projection of the southern extremity of 
Lake George, bordering upon the town of Queensbury. Named 
after Elijah Dunham, an enterprising merchant and lumberman, 
who at one time owned a fine sloop, which conveyed passengers, as 
well as lumber and merchandise, through Lake George. 

East line. A term applied in the early part of the century to the east- 
ern boundary of the town, in the vicinity of the Pancher quarries. 

Emmons's, Adonijah, store, 1814. A room in the south end of the dwell- 
ing on Glen street, now owned and occupied by J. W. Finch. 

Factory, the. Sometimes called Curtis's factory. Woolen cloth works 
on the Ridge road, on the outlet of the Big pond. Destroyed by 
fire in 1869. 

Fairpield, to the line of, 1808. Original name of Luzerne township. 

Fancher quarries. Extensive lime stone beds on the eastern boundary 
of the town. The products of these quarries, are yearly becoming 
an increased article of export and revenue. 

Feeder dam. The big dam, two miles above the village, constructed by 
the state to create a pond for the supply of water to the Northern 
canal at the level above Fort Edward. 

Feeder, the. The branch canal leading from the big dam above Glen's 
Falls to Fort Edward, and supplying the level of the Northern 
canal at that place with water. 

Ferriss's, John A-, inn, 1802, 3, 5. The building now occupied by A. 
N. Locke as a dwelling, next north of the Glen's Falls Insurance 
building. 

Ferriss's, Warren, mills Saw and grist mills situated on the site of the 
Glen's Falls Company's Stone Mills and the race way above it. 

Ferry, Samuel Fairchild's, 1786. Across the Hudson river, at the foot 
of the reefs, and above the Big bay. 

Ferry, Park's. A ferry established just above the falls across the river 
previous to the Kevolution, by the Parks family. 

Five mile creek, the, 1819.1 l^lsewhere described as the Meadow run. So 

Five mile run, the, 1797. j called from its being about that distance from 
the head of Lake George. 

FoRBEs's and Johnson's forge, 1811. A forge of considerable note in its 
day, situated at the outlet of the Forge pond, from whence the 
latter derived its name. It was worked mostly in the manufacture 
from bog iron ore, of the old fashioned plough shares. The ore 
was drawn principally from a point east of Fort Edward, and was 
reduced by a cheap process of charcoal smelting, the coal being pro- 
duced abundantly from the adjacent plains. 



NAMES OF LOCALITIES. 167 

Ford, at the sand beach. A point in the river, nearly opposite the 
Glen's Falls Transportation Company's office, where, before the erec- 
tion of a bridge, there was a ridge of bed rock available as a rough 
fording place in low water. The terminus of the ford on the 
Moreau side was opposite the lower point of the island. 

Ford, Morgan's. A fording place in the Hudson river, opposite the road 
intersecting the highway to Fort Edward, at the old Reuben 
Morgan place about midway between Glen's Falls and Sandy Hill. 
It was much used during, and anterior to the Revolutionary war, 
being on the direct route between Skeenesborough and the Middle 
line at Ballston, and other settlements in the Saratoga district. It 
was here that a portion of Burgoyne's army crossed the river at 
the time of his advance towards Saratoga, and encamped on the 
heights on the south side of the river. 

Forge pond. An expansion of the Half-way brook, about one and a 
half miles west of Glen's Falls, famous for its trout fishery. For 
origin of name see above. 

Forge road, 1833. The road leading west from the "Warren county 
fair grounds, past the Forge pond. 

Fort George, 1784. " The inhabitant of, annexed to Queensbury." — Town 
Records. This, as appears elsewhere, was Hugh McAulley who it 
would seem from the above entry was then the only resident at the 
head of the lake. The plan of Fort George was marked out by 
Col. James Montressor, chief engineer on Gen. Amherst's stafi" on 
the 22d of June, 1759. It was laid out on an elevation situated 
about six hundred yards south from the head of the lake, and 
about the same distance easterly from the site of old Fort William 
Henry. It was known, in colloquial parlance, as Montressor's folly. 
The only portion of the fort ever fully completed was the south- 
west bastion. A temporary stockaded post was built, within its 
protection. Also officers' barracks, soldiers' barracks, guard room, 
kitchen and store houses. A saw mill in the swamp south-west from 
the fort, furnished a great portion of the material for these build- 
ings. An irregular wall to the north-east, whose ruins are still 
partly visible, enclosed a space devoted to gardening purposes. 

In 1776 there were erected for hospital use two buildings, one 
on the flat below the forts, and the other, of considerable dimen- 
sions, near the former site of Fort William Henry, which were used 
for the accommodation of the sick from Gen. Schuyler's army then 
lying at Fort Edward. To these were probably added others sub- 
sequently, for in the army correspondence of those days, we learn 
that over three thousand troops were invalided here with the 
small pox. Among the victims to this terrible scourge, was the 



168 



HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 



Brigadier General Baron de Woedtke, a Prussian officer of distinc- 
tion who had espoused the American cause, and whose remains now 
occupy an unknown grave at Lake George. One of these hospital 
buildings, was afterwards used as a hotel, and under the name of 
the long house was known far and wide at the beginning of the 
present century. The barracks referred to were capable of accomoda- 
ting one thousand men. At the time it was taken possession of by 
Burgoyne's advance there were 14 pieces of artillery here, only two 
of which were mounted. 
Fountain, the. The idea of a public fountain in connection with the 
Glen's Falls Water Works, appears to have originated with Mere- 




/£/iei/iOU 



PUBLIC FOUNTAIN, GLEN S KAI,LS. 



dith B. Little, who, in 1872, circulated, and obtained two hundred 
signatures to a petition to the village trustees, in their capacity of 
commissioners of the water works, to erect a fountain in the centre 



NAMES OF LOCALITIES. 169 

• of the village, at the expense of the corporation, or its taxable 
property, which should be both a credit and ornament to the 
place. This was presented to the board of trustees, who thereupon 
authorized the said Little to act as a committee to select, and report 
a design. This was done in the winter of 1872 and '3, and the 
trustees, acting as commissioners, accepted such plans and estimates 
and made an appropriation from the proceeds of the sale of water 
bonds to cover its cost. In the mean time, a new election took place 
and Mr. Little was chosen one of the new board of trustees. In the 
spring of 1873 the work was commenced, and being vigorously 
pushed, was completed about the time of the commencement of sum- 
mer travel in the month of June following, Messrs. Little and Wm. 
Wait of the board of trustees acting as committee of construction. 
It is situated at the central part of the village, near the intersection 
of Ridge, Warren and Glen streets, and when in full play, is a most 
conspicuous object of attraction. The diameter of the basin is 
twenty-one feet, the rim being of iron, the bottom of cement. Its 
depth is about three feet. The base of the pedestal is of Glen's 
Falls marble, two and a half feet in height, octagonal, with three 
projecting buttresses. The fountain proper, with ornaments, is 
about fifteen feet high above the water level. There are a number 
of jets, and attachments, which give a pleasing variety to its play. 
The entire outlay expended in its construction was nineteen hundred 
dollars. The cost was considerably enhanced by its being built 
over a nest of five immense cisterns, into which the waste material 
of the fountain flows, thus creating a large reservoir of water, which 
can be resorted to in case of any great emergency, such as a fire, or 
obstruction in the water works. 

Four corners, the, 1797. By Benjamin Wing's store. The latter occu- 
pied the site at the bend of the road, in Mr. Henry Crandell's front 
door yard, near the soldiers' monument. 

French mountain. An elevation lying partly in the town of Caldwell, 
but chiefly in the town of Queensbury. It is at its highest point 
about eighteen hundred feet above tide water. Its northern pro- 
montory projects several miles into the head of Lake George divid- 
ing it into two portions. The eastern slopes are arable and cultivated 
to the summit. The western declivity, with trifling exception, is 
abrupt, precipitous, rocky and scantily wooded. It is supposed to 
have received its name from an attack planned and attempted by the 
French against Fort William Henry in the spring of 1756, in 
which that mountain was made the base of their operations. Prior 
to that, as appears by a map in The American Military Pocket Atlas, 
it was called by the less pretentious name of Gooseberry mountain. 
22 



170 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

Fuller's mill, 1786-94. A saw mill situated on the outlet of the Big 
pond, below the site of the factory, recently burned. 

Furnace, the, 1854. Now occupied as a carriage manufactory by the 
Norriss brothers. It was a business first started by Dwight Hitch- 
cock as elsewhere recorded. About the date above named it came 
into the possession of a firm consisting of Stephen Goodspeed, 
George C. Mott and A. W. Holden, and was continued nearly two 
years under the firm name of Goodspeed, Mott & Co. Its princi- 
pal business was making stove castings. 

Geer's basin. A well known tying up place for boats, in the Glen's 
Falls feeder at Shermantown. It derives its name from the late 
Hon. Walter Geer, the former owner of the adjacent property. 

Glen's Falls Company's lime kilns. Situated about half way between 
Glen's Falls and Sandy Hill. Very conveniently located on the 
towing path side of the canal, where the products of the manufactory 
can be easily shipped on board canal boats. These works have 
been in operation something more than fifteen years. 

Glen's Falls feeder. As its name implies, a tributary of the Northern 
canal. First surveyed about the year 1823, and first dug through, 
as a big ditch, simply, in 1824. Enlarged from 1828 to '32 in the 
latter of which years it was first made navigable for canal boats, 
and became an avenue and thoroughfare of our inland commerce. 

Glen's Falls Insurance Company's building. The first movement to- 
ward the formation of an insurance company in Glen's Falls 
was in 1849, when a number of our more prominent citizens 
moved in the matter, and without allowing the enterprise 
to lag from want of energy, pushed it forward to a firm incor- 
porated basis. The original intent of the movement seems to 
have been to form a species of local insurance corporation rather 
than to launch forth upon the broad waves of a grand national 
enterprise such as the movement has proved to be. We think that 
none of those who originally moved in the matter ever supposed 
that they were laying the corner stone of a corporation that within 
a few years would count its property by the hundreds of thousand 
dollars and its business by millions, and would make the name of 
Glen's Falls of household familiarity throughout the Union. The 
original call for this purpose was signed by those whose names are 
familiar to us all, some of whom move among us as of yore, while 
many which were of weight and dignity have passed through the 
eternal gates and exist to us only as bright spots in the panoramic 
succession of dear memories. The following were the signers of 
the original call for the purpose of formation : J. H. Rice, D. G. 
Harris, E. H. Rosekrans, Abraham Wing, Bethuel Peck, Charles 
Rockwell, E. S. Vaughn, A. Sherman, E. H. Hopkins, George 




.H^i-Vi.E^ 



'l'.^iL]L^S 



" CLENSTREET, C L E N S F AL L S. N .Y. ~ ' 

Thi'x Company was orf/aniy.ed under t/ie corporate nam£ of thr Dividentl Mutual 
Jnxuraurr Onnpany May /"'IS'tO After IS years of most sure frss fill husmexs ft wax 
May 1"^ IHC-t refiij/oiiizcd «« iht' johit slnrk plan Mith o rash rapilal of $100,000. 
to which m January ISOr was akdcil S JIIO HOI) fasli The biixiiicss of llu- I'oinpai^, . 
has hern grtunfJv succexxf'ul ft haoHq hcsirhx />,v t'upiialof S IHIO.IIOO 

Sia-pltix assets ninountiit^to 'i7S.000_ 

Mnkiu<, n totnt of ^i 57:000 

TLe [trpsful offixers aj'e 
B.M;. LITTLE. Piesidrut JEIlOSre LAPBA-M Treas. 

ACOrsTCS SilEKMJWf.Virc Pres. A.rfEWTOtf LdCins.Scfv. 



NAMES OF LOCALITIES. 171 

Cronkhite, A. N. Cheney, D. McNiel, Billy J. Clark, J. G. Havi- 
land, L. B. Barnes, James Hurley, J. B. Cool, W. S. Carpenter, 
H. R. Wing, D. H. Cowles, John H. Walker, J. S. Ferine. 

In this same year (1849) the company became formed and incor^ 
porated under the provisions of an act of the New York state 
legislature, assuming the name of the Glen's Falls Dividend 
Mutual Insurance Company, and on the 15th day of February, 
1850, a meeting was held and the following were elected as the 
first board of directors of the company : F. D. Hodgeman, E. H. 
Rosekrans, Thos. Archibald, Charles Rockwell, Stephen Goodman, 
Bethuel Peck, William Cronkhite, Albert N. Cheney, Pelatiah 
Richards, L. B. Barnes, Abraham Wing, William H. Wells, Billy 
J. Clark. 

Following close upon their election the board of directors held a 
regular business session on the 4th of March of this same year, 
when the following were elected first officers of the company : 

President — Bethuel Peck. 

Vice President — ■ Pelatiah Richards. 

Secretary — R. M. Little, (a) 

Treasurer — A. N. Cheney. 

Attorney — E. H. Rosekrans. 

The company now formed and in a condition for the prosecution 
of business, commenced its official labors in a single room of the old 
Exchange building, corner of Glen and Exchange streets, removing 
some time thereafter to a single room on the second floor of the old 



{a) Russell M. Little was bora in Peru, Berksliire county, Mass., December 
26tli, 1808. His education was acquired at Wilbraliam Seminary in the same 
state. In the year 1827, being then only nineteen years of age, he left this insti- 
tution, to enter upon the arduous and laboi'ious duties and responsibilities attached 
to the position of minister in the Methodist Episcopal church of which denomina- 
tion he has ever since been an active, zealous and efficient member. For twelve 
years Mr. Little continued to officiate with great success, until, in 1839, his health 
broke down from over work, and he was forced to retire from active ministerial 
duties. 

Soon after this, he embarked in mercantile pursuits which were followed for 
several years with his accustomed energy, industry and success. He then entered 
upon his insurance career, acting as local agent for foreign companies until the 
year 1849, when he organized the Glen's Falls Dividend Mutual Insurance Com- 
pany, of which he was elected secretary, which office included the duties of gene- 
ral agent, manager, adj uster, and all that was active connected with the entire 
business. 

The history of this organization is one of uninterrupted prosperity, due in great 
measure to the well known probity and faithfulness of its executive officer. The 
result was exhibited, after an unprecedented career of fifteen years, and paying over 
two hundred thousand dollars in losses, in a cash accumulation of ninety-five thou- 
sand dollars, besides paying all expenses including the purchase of a lot and the 



172 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

D. H. Cowles & Co.'s building, corner Warren and Ridge streets, 
until finding a permanent home in its own commodious building on 
Glen street, wbieh it at present occupies. The building, which is 
the property of the company, has twice been enlarged to meet the 
requirements of the constantly increasing business which has ac- 
companied its increase of years. During the early years of this 
company, while in its swaddling clothes, the transaction of its busi- 
ness was not necessarily diifused into the hands of as extensive a 



erection of a building,' and without making a single assessment upon its policy 
holders. 

These results seem something wonderful in the light of our recent experience 
in regard to insurance companies. 

In the fall of 1861, when the rebellion had reached its most formidable propor- 
tions, and even our national existence was jeopardized, when good, true and strong 
men of all parties, rallied together for the support of the common cause and the 
protection of the common interests, Mr. Little was chosen as standard bearer of 
the republican party in the sixteenth senatorial district of New York (consisting 
of Clinton, Essex and Warren counties) ; was elected senator by a triumphant 
majority, and served through the sessions of '62 and '3, with distinguished ability. 
Although he might have looked forward to further political preferment with 
great confidence, from his wide popularity, and the prestige of success which has 
characterized his whole career, yet he has repeatedly declined entering the politi- 
cal arena, preferring the even tenor of his professional pursuits, to the hot escit- 
ments, and paroxysmal industries of a public life. 

" The general disaster which had overtaken mutual companies, and the growing 
prejudice against them, was readily appreciated by Mr. Little, and early in 1864, 
he proposed the reorganization of the Dividend Mutital into a joint stock company, 
with a paid up capital of $100,000. It is pretty strong evidence of the confidence 
of the public in the subject of tliis sketch, that in those days, when fortunes were 
counted in thousands instead of millions, he was able to raise the required capital 
(all cash and paid up), in the space of a few weeks ; and the organization of the 
Glen's Falls Insurance Company was perfected, Mr. Little being again chosen 
secretary." 

So prosperous and successful was the new company, that three years later its 
capital stock was doubled, and, in compliment to his efforts, the board of directors 
elected him to the presidency of the institution. 

In all his varied relations to the company, his duties have been always arduous, 
frequently perplexing, difficult and harassing, while his industry has been per- 
sistent and unremitting, and his tact, address, and shrewd management, simply 
something wonderful. 

Gentle, amiable, and unobtrusive in manner, kind, courteous and considerate of 
the feelings of others, Mr. Little is the model of a Christian gentleman, beloved 
at home, honored and respected abroad. Although he has attained an age when 
most men are willing to retire from the active struggles and conflicts of life, Mr. 
Little, with his wonted energy and perseverance, by night and by day, through 
sunshine and storm, in winter and summer, is constantly pusliing or guarding 
the interests of the comjmny into which his life has been woven, and in whose 
service it is slowly wearing out. 



> This sketch is copied almost verbatim from an article published in the Insurance Age, July, 
1873. 




KEY. AND HON. R. M. LITTLE. 



174 HISTORY OP THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

corps of assistants as at present, and many of our citizens will re- 
call the fact that for some years the secretary (now president) was 
" boss and all hands," not only transacting all the inside work but 
the outside business as well. Even after the name of the Glen's 
Falls Dividend Mutual Insurance Company had become well and 
favorably known over a large extent of territory as an honorable 
and efl&cient corporation, the whole ojB&ce work was done by the 
secretary and one clerk, and that with the accommodations and 
palatial surroundings of oflGice furniture which would not have 
brought twenty-five dollars in the market. 

As a special item of interest, we append here, a list of those who 
have, from time to time, since the formation of the company, been 
connected with it in the capacity of Directors, up to the present 
time, placing those who are of the existing Board in italics, and a 
review of these names will recall to the minds of all who have had 
an acquaintance of length in Glen's Falls, potent reminiscences of 
men of industry, wealth and influence. D. H. Cowles, Hermon 
Peck, Lewis Hunt, Alexander Robertson, Joseph Parry, Geo. 
Clendon, S. B. Lee, T. S. Gray, 0. Cronkhite, Jas. W. Schenck, 
Alonzo W. Morgan, Thos. Potter, Isaac J. Davis, Walter Phelps 
Jr., John Alden, D. G. Roberts, F. A. Johnson, Jr., 0. Richards, 
Jerome Lapham, B. F. Bancroft, Charles Fowler, Augustus Sher- 
man, J. C Greene, E. Andrews, M. W. Fish, H. S. Rankin, F. 
0. Burhans, H. R. Wing, Asahel Wing, Jas. Morgan, (a) Isaac G. 
Parker, R. M. Little, Stephen Brown, Ruliff Kipp, Sam'l Pruyn, 



(«) James Morgan was born in the town of Bolton, Warren county, N. Y., on 
the 34tli of August, 1814, he being a babe of a few weeks old when his father, 
with the other members of Capt. Pliny Pierce's company, was summoned to the 
northern frontier to join in the brilliant campaign where the raw militia of northern 
New York achieved that signal victory ever famous in history as the battle of 
Plattsburgh. 

The Morgans were of Welch extraction, the ancestors, according to family tra- 
dition havino- immigrated to this country about the middle of the seventeenth 
century. The name signifies sea born. They were of that fierce, wild and hardy^ 
Celtic stock who through centuries repelled both Saxon and Norman subjugation ; 
and whose adventurous and hardy mariners were a terror to the northern seas, 
and anticipated by two centuries the discovery of America by Columbus. The 
father Jonah Morgan, one of eleven children, removed from Nine Partners, 
Dutchess county, N. Y., and settled on Barton hill in the town of Bolton, then a 
young and thriving township. Here he purchased a farm, and in the peaceful 
pursuits of agriculture passed a long and uneventful life. He married for his 
second wife Sally, daughter of Neheraiali and Hannah Brown of the same neigh- 
borhood, by whom he had a family of nine children, of whom James was third 
in the order of birth. Participating in scant degree in the limited opportunities 
furnished by forest hamlets for an education, we find him at the early age of 
eighteen, launched upon the career of life, working at farm labor for the small 
pittance of eight dollars a month. With the same sturdy purpose and iudomita- 





(Knuj 




NAMES OF LOCALITIES. 175 

A. J. Pearsall, T. S. Coolidge, J. L. Cunningham, Harvey Brown, 
M. B. Little, Jos. Fowler, E. Alliger, D. C. Eolman, Jos. E. King, 
W. A. Wait, John A. Sheldon. 

The Dividend Mutual did a most successful business for fifteen 
years, never having made an assessment on its premium notes, pay- 



ble will which overcame in later life so many obstacles, he aimed early for that 
honest independence which honorable industry and steadfast perseverance are so 
sure to bring, and win for their followers. 

In 1834 he removed to Glen's Falls, where he was first employed on what is 
now known as the old Cheney mill, of which he has since been many years a 
proprietor. Subsequently he found employment in the old lath mill on this side 
the river. In these pursuits he worked out his apprenticeship in that business 
of which in his later years he became so rare and energetic a director ; and in 
whose small details and minor economies he so familiarized himself as to amass 
in a short period a splendid fortune, when others, with perhaps equal sagacity, 
might have impoverished or squandered an estate. In 1837 or '8 he bought the 
well known grocery stand on the site now occupied by Mrs. Ferguson, where for 
two years he carried on a thriving business. From thence he removed to the 
stand now covered by the spacious mercantile establishment of Messrs. Coolidge 
& Lee, where, with increased facilities for trade, a large and remunerative business 
connection was established. About this time he embarked in lumber operations, 
whose gradual extensions, enlargements and combinations finally reached the 
amazing proportions of one of, if not the largest lumbering manufacturing esta- 
blishment on the Hudson river, and, at the time of his death, the business had 
become so expanded that two years' stock of logs, equivalent to two large fortunes, 
were constantly afloat on the Hudson and its wilderness tributaries, and four large 
gang mills, with all the modern improvements for economizing labor and material, 
were constantly in operation, with two sets of employees, night and day, during 
the period of canal navigation, or about two-thirds of the year. 

Mr. Morgan's eminent success and large wealth has latterly led to his connec- 
tion with other monetary and manufacturing interests, and he was a large ovnier 
and stockholder, with a controlling voice in the management of the Morgan Lime 
Company and the Glen's Falls Paper Mill, both of which industries are situated on 
the south side of the river. 

An unfortunate infirmity of deafnes^no doubt contributed largely to isolate Mr. 
Morgan from his fellow men, as also from participating as largely in public affairs 
as most men possessing a tithe of his rare business abilities, energy and persever- 
ance. Beneath a superficial crust of reserve, Mr. Morgan concealed a kind heart 
and genial disposition ; and the same disposition which made him a bitter and 
unrelenting opponent made him a sincere and earnest friend and counselor. 
Among the laboring men, few employers were better liked than he. 

He married about the first of October in the fall of 1841 Olivia, daughter of 
the late Martin Eastwood, Esq. She, with two daughters, survive to lament and 
deplore his loss. His death, which occurred on the night or rather early morning 
of Friday the Ist of August, 1873, was sudden, mysterious and horrible. Being 
aroused in the night by some passer by, with the intelligence that his horses were 
making a disturbance at his barn, he arose and dressed, took a kerosene lantern, 
and went to the barn. That was the last he was seen alive. In less than half an 
hour an alarm of fire was given, and the barn was found in a bright blaze, and 
when the building was burned down, his charred remains were found lying 
beneath one of the dead horses. How or why he came to his death will doubtless 
always be enveloped in dread doubt and uncertainty. 



176 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

ing over $200,000 in losses, and accumulating a cash surplus of 
over $95,000, not deducting for reinsurance of outstanding risks, 
or providing for losses which might occur upon them. Consider- 
ing the nominal character of its rates, this result, looked at in the 
present light of the fire fiend, seems wonderful. 

As one after another of the State Mutuals sunk under reckless 
or dishonest management and went down in disgrace and dishonor, 
the Grlen's Falls Insurance Company stood almost alone as a con- 
spicuous monument among the ruins, but the general disaster which 
had overtaken these companies, and the growing prejudice against 
them was readily appreciated, and in 1864 it was proposed to re- 
organize the Dividend Mutual into a Joint Stock Company, with 
a paid up capital of $100,000. By an act of the legislature the 
company was reorganized, the policyholders being ofiPered an 
opportunity to subscribe to the capital stock pro rata according to 
payments made by them to the company. In most cases these 
privileges were bought up at a premium, and it is pretty good evi- 
dence of the confidence of the public in the management of the 
company that double the amount of the needed one hundred thou- 
sand dollars was subscribed, necessitating a second pro rating. 
The company was called the Glen's Falls Insurance Company and 
succeeded to the good will, reputation and business of the mutual 
organization. 

The business of the re-organized company extended so rapidly 
that in 1867, its capital was increased by actual payment to 
$200,000 and the company assumed its place among the important 
and well-known companies of the State. 

Since the formation of this company the following have held the 
principal offices named and in the order in which their names 
occur : 

Presidents — Bethuel Peck, Pelatiah Richards, A. W. Morgna 
and R. M. Little. 

Secretaries — R. M. Little, A. N. Locke and J, L. Cunningham. 

Treasurers — A. N. Cheeney, F. A. Johnson Jr., Alex. Robert- 
son, Jerome Lapham and F. A. Johnson. 

At the present writing the existing officers of the company are 
as follows : 

President — R. M. Little. 
Vice-President — A. Sherman. 
Secretary — J. L. Cunningham. 
AssH Secretary — G. B. Greenslet. 
Treasurer — F. A. Johnson. 
Attorney — Stephen Brown. 

Gen'l A(jents — R. A. Little, Eastern States ; Sam'l R. House, 
Ohio ; Brown and Hobbins, Western States. 



NAMES OF LOCALITIES. 177 

The company have nearly four hundred agents scattered through 
the states of New York, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Jersey, 
Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin and Missouri, 
half of which number are in the state of New York. 

Its present available assets foot over 8630,000 and its net surplus 
over every liability excepting capital is over $319,000. It has 
paid over one million dollars in losses and has received nearly two 
million dollars in premiums. Its policies cover over sixty millions 
of dollars. 

Prudence and firmness have ever been the predominating traits 
of this sound old company, its risks have been carefully selected 
and a powerful resistance always opposed to fraud. 

Glen House. A hotel, built (on the site of a tavern previously burned), 
and owned and kept by Henry Spencer, Esq., formerly sheriff of 
Warren county. It stood on the site adjoining, on the north, Peter 
Lapoint's saloon ^under the hill. It was burned in 1867, it being 
then occupied as a hotel by Russell Barber. 

Glen's Falls Opera House. An elegant, costly and spacious structure, 
erected in the summer of 1871, by the Messrs. Coffins and Lasher of 
this place, on the old Daniel Peck estate, adjoining the grounds of 
the Presbyterian church on the west, and fronting on Warren 
street. Its front on the street is occupied by the village post office 
and stores; the second story is devoted to offices, while the third 
contains two large halls elegantly furnished, and occupied by a large 
division of the Sons of Temperance, and a flourishing lodge of 
Good Templars. The Opera House proper extends back in the 
rear, and has besides the usual stage, scenery, etc., conveniences 
for parties and festivals. It has a seating capacity of sixteen 
hundred. 

Glenville. The earlier books of travel occasionally refer to the village 
of Glen's Falls under this name. I have also met with it in manu- 
scripts connected with the early history of the town. 

Great bay, the, 1812. The Big bay. Elsewhere described. 

Green island, 1798. An island in Lake George. 

Griffin and Austin's mill, 1826. A saw-mill on the outlet of the Big 
pond. 

Guard lock, the. The lock at the head of the Glen's Falls feeder. 

Halp-way brook. A stream famous in border annals, deriving its name 
from the fact that it was about midway between the two great 
military posts at Fort Edward and Lake George. It rises in the 
Luzerne mountains, west of Glen's Falls, and running a tortuous 
but generally easterly course, receiving the waters of many small 
tributaries on the w;iy, it empties into Wood creek in the town of 
23 



178 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

Fort Ann, Washington county, N. Y. It was the scene of many 
sanguinary skirmishes, and engagements, during the French war, 
in consequence of which it was called Bloody brook by some of 
the provincial soldiers, — Life of John Stark, and Robert Rogers. 
It is designated as Scoune creek on a map of a grant and survey 
made to Kobert Harpur, on file in the secretary of state's office. 
It is mentioned in Knox's Military Journal as Seven mile creek, 
it being about seven miles distant from the head of the lake. On 
a map published in Wilson's Orr/er/y i?ooA; of Amherst's Expedition 
in 1759, it is laid down as Shone creek. 

Half-way House. A famous hotel situated near the upper toll gate, 
noted for its hospitality and fare. Its proprietor is George Brown, 
a lineal descendant of Benedick Brown, one of the pioneers who 
settled in the town prior to the Revolutionary war. 

Hammon's, Thomas, store, 1808. At the Oneida, which see. 

.Harrisena, 1818. All that portion of the town pf Queensbury north and 
east of the bounds of the original patent; deriving this appellation 
from the numerous families bearing the name of Harris who settled 
in that neighborhood. 

Harris's bay, 1808. South eastern extremity of Lake George. Here, 
as tradition hath it, Old Bill Harris meted out border justice to 
eight Indians who had been dispatched by their tribe to waylay 
and kill him in revenge for some of his many ruthless acts, for if 
half that is told of him be true, he had as little compunction 
in killing an Indian, as in shooting a wolf. These Indians had 
been lurking in the swamps and woods of the neighborhood for 
some days, patiently waiting their opportunity for his capture. 
Finally he learned, either by observation or through the kind offices 
of a neighbor, that they were all out on the lake fishing. He im- 
mediately hurried around the neighborhood and borrowed of his 
friends their muskets or rifles to the number of eight, which, having 

loaded, he secreted them behind a log on the lake shore. He then 
• . . . . 

exhibited himself to them with derisive and contemptuous gestures, 

when they all made for the shore to take him. As they came 

within range he deliberately shot one after the other till they were 

all killed. He was naturally taciturn and stern. When afterwards 

asked what he had done with the bodies, he took a fish and plunging 

a sharp pointed knife through its air-bladder flung it into the lake, 

into whose clear depths it settled like a stone. It was the popular 

belief that he had served the Indians the same way. After this, he 

was not molested, the Indians reaching the conclusion that he bore 

a charmed life. 

Haviland's, Abraham, blacksmith shop, 1795. On the site now covered 

by George Ferguson's store, opposite the soldiers' monument. 



NAMES OF LOCALITIES. 179 

Haviland's, Roger, house, 1795. An old fashioned story and a half 
farm house originally built by John Eddy, who afterwards removed 
to Fort Edward. It stood, facing South street, at the turn of the 
road leading to the big dam. It was burned about the year 1858. 
It was old Roger referred to in the above extract from the town 
records. He afterwards removed to the Ridge. 

Hendrick's rock. A large boulder on the hill south-east from Williams' 
monument, and a short distance north from the upper toll gate. 
Determined by the late Judge Hay from actual measurement and 
survey as being the spot where King Hendrick fell in the action 
known as the Bloody Morning Scout. 

Hog's back. A spur of the Palmertown range of mountains, at the south- 
western angle of the town. Around its base, the Hudson river 
emerges on its eastern course to Sandy Hill. 

Hotel, Samuel G-. Skinner's, 1816. The Union Hotel elsewhere spoken 
of, and afterwards burned. It stood near the side walk, on what is 
now Mr. James C. Finch's door yard. 

Hull's, Joseph, saw mill, 1826. On the trout brook at the West moun- 
tain. 

Hunting hill. A once famous run way for deer, and resort for other 
game. It is the hill immediately back of the Gurney and Robison 
place. It is now cultivated nearly, if not quite to its summit. 

Island, by the river bridge, 1795. This entry in the town records es- 
tablishes the fact of the existence of a bridge across the river at 
that early date. The island was once known as Wing's island. 
A few years after a toll bridge was constructed here, and a toll 
house stood at the upper or west side of the road, which within the 
author's recollection was used as a tenant house. It was torn down 
at the time of the erection of the present bridge in 1842. 

Island, Wing's. On the south side of the river about half a mile above 
the mills. It is only separated from the main land by a small frith, 
easily spanned by a plank. Near it is Wing's eddy, both names 
being retained from the olden times. 

John's farm, 1777. This term occurs in both the Baron and Madame de 
Riedesel's Memoirs; applying, as appears from the text, to the 
clearing about the military post at the Half-way brook. Why the 
name was given is wholly a matter of conjecture. 

JoiNTA Lime Kilns. Situated on the berm side of the Grlen's Falls feeder 
about a mile east from the village centre. The term jointa origin- 
ated in Rhode Island, being «, name without any especial significa- 
tion adopted at random to designate an especially excellent quality 
of lime. It was introduced here by Mr. Harris from Rhode Island 
about the year 1842, and has gradually came to be in general use. 



180 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

Jones's John, mill place, 1786. Understood to have been applied origin- 
ally to the site of Patten's mills. The John Jones' farmhouse, 
which stood in the edge of Kingsbury was used as a military hos- 
pital in the Revolution, at the time of Burgoyne's advance. 

Kettles, Indian. Pot holes worn by the action of water in the flat rock, 
at the head of Glen's Falls, where the cataract divides. They have 
been shown to tourists by boys of a speculative turn of mind as 
kettles where the Indians used to grind their corn. 

Kimball's tannery at the Ridge. It was located at the foot of the hill 
east of the present school house. It was in operation in the early 
part of the present century. 

Jessup's falls. The Big fall, on the Hudson river about ten miles above 
Glen's Falls, where the entire volume of water pours over a sheer 
descent of about seventy feet. Above the fall is what is called 
" the race " where for a distance of about three hundred yards, the 
river rushes down a sharp decline, gathering strength and impetus 
for the final leap. Still higher up is a gorge in the rocks where the 
river finds passage in a cleft about fourteen feet space. Here le- 
gend says that one of the Jessups jumped across the river and 
made his escape at the outbreak of the Revolution from the sheriff 
of Albany county. Mr. Zina Cowles of our village informs me that 
he has jumped across the same place. 

Long pond. Otherwise known as the Big pond. A fine sheet of water 
visible from the plank road about four miles north of Glen's Falls. 
It receives the waters of the Meadow run. Rocky brook and Brown's 
pond. At its western extremity is a large peat bed, which has 
been partially worked, and which is elsewhere referred to. 

McDonald's, William, store, 1821. An old fashioned country store 
standing on the east side and angle of the Ridge road opposite the 
Gould Sanford place, at the Ridge. 

Mallory's, John, inn, 1802. The old building still standing on the east 
side of the plank road just outside of the corporation limits, at the 
corner of what in the old surveys is called the new road. 

Meadow run brook, the, 1808. So called because of a large beaver 
meadow upon it, whence the first settlers obtained their sup- 
plies of hay. Elsewhere described as Four mile creek, and Five 
mile run. 

Moon's mills, 1808. A saw mill and grist mill on the outlet of the 
Long pond. Some of the timbers and sub-structure of the grist- 
mill are still to be seen near the bridge at the road crossing, 
a little below John P. Coffin's establishment. The saw mill is 
understood to have been situated immediately at the embouchure 
of the pond. 



NAMES OF LOCALITIES. 181 

Mount Defiance. At the outlet of Lake George. Taken possession of by 
Burgoyne's Engineer Corps at the time of liis advance, thus com- 
pelling an evacuation by the American forces under General St. 
Clair, of the important military post of Ticonderoga. On a map 
dated 1762, published in the American Military Pocket Atlas, it 
is laid down as Sugar bush mountain. 

NoRTH-west bay on Lake George, In a collection of military maps rela- 
ting to North America, and bearing the date of 1762, it is laid 
down as the North arm, and in another place as Cankusker bay. 

Nichol's saw mill, 1824-35. On a wing-dam on the Hudson river 
below Little bay. 

Nichol's grist mill, 1826. Supposed to have been situated at the same 
place as the above. 

Norman's bay, 1837. One of the southern extremities of Lake George, 
projecting into the town of Queensbury. 

Oak hollow, the, 1812. At the great bay on the river about four miles 
above the village. 

Odell's mill, 1808. A saw mill situated on the outlet of the Big pond 
north of the Oneida. 

Ogden's mill, 1823. A saw mill at the mouth of the Ogden brook near 
the Big bay. 

Oneida village, The, 1818. \ A settlement on the Ridge road about 

Oneida, The, 1825. J five miles north of Glen's Falls. Elsewhere 

fully described. It derived its name from Tom Hammond, a half- 
breed Oneida Indian, who kept a store here, prior to, and during 
the last war with Great Britian. 

Osborne's store, 1797. A country store at Sanford's ridge. It stood on 
the west side of the road, a little north of Joseph Haviland's corner. 

Patten's, Edward, mill. A sa\fr mill still bearing that name on the 
Half-way brook just beyond the Queensbury town line. 

Pearl village 1813. ") A persistent attempt, for the space of about 

Pearlville, 1808. J twenty years and dating back to the beginning of 
the century, was made to fasten the name of Pearlville upon this 
thriving settlement. The name occurs frequently in the manu- 
script records on file in the town clerk's office. 

Pease's distillery. An establishment which stood about the year 1808-10, 
on a small stream at the rear of Mr. Duncan McGregor's house, 
and on his premises, and which, if tradition be true, had plenty of 
business and patronage. Pease came here from Poultney, Vt., and 
also carried on a tavern, subsequently burned, which stood on the 
site where Henry Spencer's Glen House was afterwards erected, 
just above Peter La Point's grocery and saloon. 



182 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

Peer's tavern, 1826. A wayside inn, which stood on the site now occu- 
pied by Wm. Miller's residence on the plank road, two miles north 
of the village. 

Pettit's, Micajah, mill, 1802. A saw mill, occupying the site of the 
Glen's Falls Company's stone saw mill, near the river bridge, on 
the west of the road. 

Pettit's store, 1793. A small wooden structure still standing directly in 
the rear of the old stone store under the hill. His house where he 
lived, certainly in comfort, and as tradition states in considerable 
style, and elegance, was the old double roomed tenant house ad- 
joining. Both of these buildings have just been torn down. 

Phelps's bay. Middle bay at the south-eastern extremity of Lake George. 
On its shores near Phelps's landing is situated the Phelps house, 
one of the many attractive and homelike resorts of tourists and 
travelers, which help to give a charm to that most delightful of all 
places of summer flitting, namely. Lake George. 
^Pitcher tavern, the, 1847. Several places have borne this name, par- 
ticularly the old log tavern at the Half-way brook, where Jonathan 
Pitcher kept a place of entertainment. The place referred to in 
the above quotation, is the old tavern stand at the Oneida, then 
kept by Dewitt C. Pitcher. 

Pitcher's, Alfred, new dwelling house, 1811. The residence now occu- 
pied by Philemon Murray about five milles from the village, on the 
road leading to Jessup's falls. 

Plains, Pine, the. A term generally applied to all that portion of Queens- 
bury west of the plank road. 

Plumb's landing, 1808. On the south-eastern extremity of Lake George. 

Pond, the Big. Elsewhere explained. The name is interchangeable with 
Long pond, both being applicable to the same sheet. 

Pond, the Little, 1799. | Referring to a pond previously spoken of, 

Pond, the Round, 1831. J emptying into the Big pond, and lying near the 
cross road, leading from the Bay road to the plank. 

Pond, Brown's, on map of Warren county. The same as above. 

Price road, the old, 1826. What is now known as the Clendon road, or 
the new road to Luzerne. 

Quaker meeting house, 1787. A log structure just south of the Half- 
way brook on the Bay road. 

Quarries, the. A term applied in general to the ledges of limestone on 
the north bank of the river, which are being worked for building, 
paving and ornamental purposes. 

Reed's meadow creek, 1798, 1808. The outlet of the Big Cedar swamp, 
on the eastern borders of the town. 



NAMES OF LOCALITIES. 



183 



Reefs, the. A reacli in the Hudson river above Little bay a mile or more 
in extent, filled with rocks, and rapids. Near the old town line on 
the west. 

Richards, Edmund B., the house of, 1835. The American hotel now 
owned by George Pardo, corner of South and Glen streets. The 
house since Richards's time has been greatly enlarged and im- 
proved. 

RiCHARDs's steam mill. A large steam saw mill situated on the Glen's 
Falls feeder about two miles east from Glen's Falls. 

Road, the, " by the meeting house and Daniel Hull's, 1788." This refers 
to the Bay road then but recently opened. 

Road, the, "that is laid up and down the river by Ferrisses mills, thence 
on to the bridge, and to the island," 1795. This quotation from 
the town records, shows the existence of a bridge over the river at 
the date mentioned, and that the road, instead of leading directly 
down the hill, turned at the foot of the long hill and struck the 
river near the bulk head. 

Rock, the Great, 1798. A huge boulder lying near the south line of 
what was then known as Abraham Tucker's farm. 




THE KOCKWELL HOUSE. 



Rockwell House. The site on which this attractive, and elegant struc- 
ture stands, has been occupied for hotel purposes since the com- 
mencement of the present century. 



184 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

The first building on this spot was erected by John A. Ferriss, 
in 1802, the first purchase towards which, was " a cent's worth of 
chalk." Various landlords have tried their fortunes here, but 
none of them have been more eminent in this way than Peter D. 
Threehouse, who built up for the house a deservedly famous repu- 
tation among the traveling public. Among his successors were 
Rogers & Brown, Richard W. Higby, A. B. Tubbs and Wait S. 
Carpenter. The latter finally purchased the establishment, tore 
down the old building and erected a large, plain brick building, in 
the fall and winter of 1852-3. This was burned down in the great 
conflagration of 1864, and Mr. Carpenter removing from the place 
the ground for several years laid 'idle. At length, in the year 1869, 
under the apprehension that a row of stores was to be erected on 
this eligible place, a number of gentlemen associated together for 
its purchase, contributing the sum of fifteen thousand four hundred 
dollars thereto. It was then ofi"ered to any person or firm, who 
would undertake the responsibility of erecting a hotel which would 
be a credit to the place. This was undertaken by Messrs. H. J. 
& Geo. H. Rockwell, in the early spring of 1871, and all agree 
that the pledge has been nobly redeemed. 

The building, a view of which is given herewith, was commenced 
on the 26th of March, 1871, and completed on the 31st of January, 
1872. Opened for business on the 12th, a general opening or in- 
fair being held on the 22d of February, following. The building 
in front is four stories in height, with a mansard roof and Swiss 
towers. It is one hundred feet in length and forty-five feet deep. 
An L, projecting in the rear, is one hundred and forty feet long, 
forty feet wide and three stories high. There are several parlors, 
seventy-two sleeping rooms, and a capacity for one hundred and 
fifty guests. The number of employees, when the house is filled, is 
thirty-seven. The cost of the house in round numbers is stated at 
sixty thousand dollars, and of the furniture, which was purchased in 
Boston, twenty thousand dollars. The crockery and silver ware was 
purchased in Albany and the carpets in the city of New York, 
The iron work used in the construction of the building was fur- 
nished by the American Corrugated Iron Company of Springfield, 
Mass. There are spacious pleasure grounds in the rear and all the 
modern conveniences, which help to make a public house homelike 
and comfortable. The architect was M. F. Cummings of Troy. 
Messrs. Krum & Adams were the carpenters. Messrs. Holman & 
Pike the masons who laid the brick work, Mr. James Camp, the 
stone work ; puinter and glazier S. P. Jackman. The proprietors are 
Messrs. 11. J. & C. L. Rockwell, and the universal testimony is 
that there is not a better kept house in the country. Many city 



NAMES OF LOCALITIES. 185 

people prefer its orderly system, quiet and elegant comfort, to the 
whirl and confusion of the fashionable watering places. 
Roll way, the. A point on the canal, near the west bounds of the cor- 
poration. In the olden time, logs were floated down the canal, and 
at this point, by simple machinery were taken out, and rolled into 
the river, to supply the mills on the north side. 
Sand beach, the. A place in the river just below the Glen's Falls Com- 
pany's quarries, where, in the olden time there was a rough fording 
place across the river. The southern terminus of the ford was near 
the upper corner of the paper mill. 
Sanford's ashery, 1810. A little east of the Ridge road, and nearly 
opposite the old Benny Wells homestead. It was established in 
the early daysofthesettlement by David Sanford, whoafterwards sold 
out his interest both in the store at the Ridge and the ashery to 
John H. Hitchcock. 
Sanford's ridge, 1799, 1844. Name derived from David Sanford, an 

early settler, and man of wide influence and general esteem. 
ScouNE creek, 1772. One of the names of the Half-way brook, which 

see. 
Scribner's, Thomas, mill, 1786. Conjectured to have been on the outlet 

of the Big pond. 
Shelden's bay. At the south-eastern extremity of Lake George. 
Shermantown. A hamlet which has sprung up around Sherman's lime 
kilns, at Geer's basin on the feeder, about a mile east of the village. 
Dependent chiefly for its existence upon the lime business, 
named from the proprietor of the lime kilns, Mr. Darwin E. 
Sherman. 
Stevenson's, Marmaduke, tavern 1815. Opposite the William Miller 

place, on the plank road, two miles north of Glen's Falls village. 
Stower's mill, 1824. A saw mill situated on the Meadow run, and owned 

by Dr. Asa Stower. 
Sugar loaf mountain, 1798. A bold acclivity some 800 feet in height, 

situated on the east line of the town at Harrisena. 
Swamp, the Big Cedar, 1817. A swamp about three miles long and nearly 
one mile in width, extending from the eastern boundaries of the 
corporation to the eastern limits of the town. 
The Clendon brook. A sparkling trout stream, having its sources in the 
West mountain, and after passing through the Clendon farm, 
running southerly across the plains, and emptying into the Hudson 
at Little bay. 
Threehouse and Thurston's inn, 1826. The old Glen's Falls Hotel 
which stood on the site of the Rockwell house. 
24 



186 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

The Corners. A common term applied to the settlement at Glen's Falls, 
the latter part of last century. 

TiLLPORD place. The homestead of the Tillford family, opposite the Wil- 
liam Miller place on the plank road, two miles north of the village. 

Tillotson's ferry, 1823. A ferry formerly established by David Tillot- 
son, across the Hudson river at Big bay. This was at a period of 
considerable business activity at that place, where large quantities 
of lumber which had been manufactured at various points above, 
was floated down in cribs, taken out here, transported across to 
Fort Edward, and thence rafted to market. 

Trout brook, " now commonly so called," 1816. The Clendon brook. 

Tubes, A. B. The house of, 1839. The old Glen's Falls Hotel. 

Turnpike, the, leading to Luzerne, 1847. It is now known as West street 
and its extension, crossing the mountain at the West church. 

Union Hotel, site of, " recently destroyed by fire," 1846. It stood well 
up to the side walk, in front of Mrs. James C. Finch's residence. 
It was a spacious, two story building, well conducted, and was in its 
day. a formidable competitor for the patronage of the traveling public. 

Van Duzen's mills, 1853. A large and extensive lumber manufacturing 
establishment, at the north end of the big dam, founded and still 
carried on by Col. Zenas Van Duzen, one of the heaviest operators 
in this section. 

Van Kleeck's store, 1802. A small mercantile concern conducted by 
Lawrence I. Van Kleeck, a lawyer, and man of considerable ability. 
The store stood on the site now occupied by William Cronkhite 
& Son. 

Van Wormer's bay, 1799. A projection of the head of Lake George at 
its south-eastern extremity. On a map in the State library at 
Albany, bearing the title of " a particular plan of Lake George, 
surveyed in 1756, by Capt. Jackson," the bay is represented as 
opening into the east side of the lake opposite Long Island. It is 
here mentioned as " the South arm, or Takundawide bay." 

Vaughn's, David, tavern, 1841. Opposite George Brown's Half-way 
house, on the south-west corner of the cross road leading to the 
Oneida. It was previously known as the widow Buck's. 

Westfield, to the line of, 1808 The name of Westfield was, about the 
date above named, changed to Fort Ann. 

Wild Cat swamp, the, 1821. A tract of low swampy land stretching 
from the western boundaries of the village, a distance of a mile, 
nearly, each way, to the pine plains It was, as its name indicates, 
the covert and resort of wild beasts of prey. Traditions are still 
rehearsed of the troops of wolves that once issued from its tangled 
reces.ses, making merciless havoc among the farmers' stock, of our 
thinly settled western borders. 



NAMES OF LOCALITIES. 187 

Willbur's, Job, mill, 1785. Supposed to have been located at the 
mouth of the Cold brook, near the town line, and about half a mile 
above Sandy Hill. 

Wing's basin, 1838. A natural bayou on the feeder, at the foot of Basin 
street, created by the emptying in of the waters of a small brook 
rising on the Haviland farm, and running through the Cheney 
woods. 

Wing's, Benjamin, store, 1798. It stood adjoining the side walk, at 
the north end of Mr. Henry Crandell's lot, near the soldiers* monu- 
ment. 

Wing's, D. W., house of entertainment, 1803, 4, 5. At Wing's Corners. 
It stood on the site of Cowles & Co.'s store. 

Wing's Falls. The original name of Glen's Falls. How and why the 
name came to be changed is elsewhere explained. This was the 
common name up to the commencement of the present century. 

Williams's rock. A huge boulder lying in a field west of the plank 
road, a few rods north of the Queensbury town line, and a little 
below the old stage route leading to Lake George. The place is 
commemorated by popular tradition, as the scene of Col. Ephraim 
Williams's death. Elsewhere fully described. 




CHURCHES OF QUEENSBURY. 



THE BAPTIST CHURCH. 

APTISTS were among the earlier inhabitants of this 
town and have always formed a considerable element 
of its population. It has been impossible to obtain all 
the facts requisite to a complete record of their 
several organizations. In some instances the minutes have 
been destroyed by fire ; in others, they have been removed 
beyond reach, or lost through carelessness and indiiference ; 
while, with one or two exceptions, those who could have fur- 
nished reliable information concerning the annals of this de- 
nomination, are now numbered witJi the dead. 

So far as can be ascertained, the Baptists of Queensbury are, 
and have been of that class, distinguished as regular, or 
close communion Baptists. By diligent, and patient research, 
and investigation, we are enabled to present the following 
historic record, concerning them. 

Until the year 1795, it is believed that no effort had been 
made to organize a church within the limits of this town. 

On the south side of the river, which was then embraced in 
the town of Saratoga, a society had been formed on the 19th 
of August, 1794, over which, according to existing records, 
Elder Calvin Hulbert presided as pastor for a number of years. 
Among its members were some residing at what is known as 
the Big bend of the Hudson river, four miles west of the 
village of Glen's Falls, and it is quite possible that some of the 
number were resident on the Queensbury side of the river. 
At the eastward a number of Baptist families were among 
the earliest settlers, by whom a society was organized at Kings- 
bury street in 1797, with Elder Ebenezer Willoughby as pastor. 
This was connected with the Vermont Baptist Association, 
formed at Manchester, Vt,, in 1780 ; and which met at Middle- 
town, Vt., October 4th, 1797, as shown by existing printed 
minutes. At the northeast, in the town of Westfield, a church 
had been built up as early as 1789, under the pastoral care of 



THE CHURCHES. 189 

Elder Sherman Babcock. This is now designated as the First 
Baptist church of Fort Ann; its place of meeting being at 
Comstock's landing. 

Being thus surrounded on three sides, as it were, by Baptist 
influences, it is nothing surprising that the town of Queensbury 
should have had a plentiful leaven of that element among its 
inhabitants at an early day. 

From this small beginning, an outgrowth of four distinct 
churches has been developed in process of time, each of which 
have had a separate house of worship, in three distinct localities, 
at distances of five or six miles apart. For convenience of re- 
ference these might be classified as follows ; viz. 

1st, The Baptist church at the Round pond. 

2d, The First Queensbury, or Oneida church. 

3d, The Second Queensbury, or West mountain church. 

4th, The Baptist church of Glen's Falls. 

Of each of these, the following account may be relied upon 
as being substantially correct. 



THE BAPTIST CHURCH AT THE ROUND POND. 

The Round pond is one of those innumerable sheets of water 
which gem the surface of northern New York. It is small in 
extent, without visible inlet or outlet, nestled in among the 
verdant hills, whose once dense growth of pines were luminous 
with its sheen. Here, on its very verge was erected a humble 
structure of logs, which served as a school house through the 
week, and, as a place of worship on the Lord's day. Here for 
a number of years assembled and worshipped the oldest organ- 
ization of Baptists in the town. It was never connected, that 
we can learn, with any association, hence its statistics are meagre, 
and its history traditionary. It was founded and sustained 
chiefly by the untiring labors of Elder Rufus Bates,^ and it was 

' The facts embraced in this narrative, were chiefly obtained from Aunt Clara 
Harris, relict of William Harris, and a daughter of Elder Bates. In an interview 
with the author, who was accompanied by the Rev. Stephen Wright, in June, 1868 
she communicated all that a remarkably clear, and retentive memory could furnish 



190 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

commonly known as Elder Bates's Church. Among the early- 
settlers, he found a few kindred spirits, with whom he occa- 
sionally improved his gift as a speaker. 

Elder Hezekiah Eastman of Danby, Vt., while on a mission- 
ary tour, about the year 1795, immersed several converts in the 
Half-way brook. During the same year the log church ah'eady 
mentioned, was erected on the southerly shore of ttPe Round 
pond, about five miles north of Glen's Falls, and was surrounded 
by a little clump of pines, through whose clustering needles, 
the summer breezes, and the fierce blasts of winter ehant the 
requiem of the dead in the little burying ground across the way. 
Here in this sequestered and yet romantic spot was built up the 
rude sanctuary of a rustic and peaceful community. The society 
was formally organized in 1796, and its pastor received his or- 
dination at the hands of such men as Elders Amasa Brown of 
Hartford, and Sylvanus Haynes of Middletown, Vt. 

A wide field of usefulness and labor was at once opened up 
to him, calling for the best improvement and exercise of his 
talent and industry in the moral harvest field around him. His 
parish extended far and wide, embracing Harrisena on the north, 
WestFort Annon the east, stretching along to the sparsely settled 
wilds of Dresden ; while Bolton and Caldwell on the west and 
northwest; and Durkeetown,' then in Argyle, at the southeast, 

in point relating to the history of this church. A son of the elder, Cornell Am- 
brose Bates, also living in the north part of the town, at the same interview, assisted 
in adding his own knowledge and recollections. 

According to the information then received, Elder Rufus Bates was a son of 
Ebenezer Bates, of Coventry, R. I., who was a son of Joshua, also a son of Joshua, 
an original immigrant from England. 

Elder Rufus was born at Coventry, 23d April, 1753. His wife was Rebecca, the 
daughter of Abner Goffe, of East Greenwich, R. I. 

About the year 1776, he removed with his father to Shaftsbury, Vt., where the 
Baptist church was previously well established, and was there baptized and ad- 
mitted to its communion. In 1780. he removed to Clarendon, Vt., where, on the 
15th of August, 1784, Aunt Clara was born. Here, and in the adjacent town 
of Ira, Vt., he spent several years, and was licensed to preach. In February, 1794, 
the fauiily came to Queensbury, and settled near the scene of his future labors, 
at what is now called Jenkins' mills, east of the Oneida. The elder here raised 
a family of eight children of whom Cornell, above named, was the youngest. He 
was born in Queensbury, 9th December, 1804. 

' " The first Fort Edward church at Durkeetown, was organized in April, 
1833. From 1802 up to 1816, the members in part, at least, who composed this 
body, were considered members of the Baptist church in Queensbury, and by them 
were set oflf as a branch with liberty to meet and transact any church business 
that might come before them. Previous to the organization of this branch the 
few families holding Baptist sentiments with others, in various parts of the town, 



THE CHURCHES. 191 

were the not infrequent scenes of his labors and ministrations. 
The total membership of this widely spread missionary field was 
estimated at something over two hundred, while for his arduous 
and manifold " works and labor of love " it is believed that he 
never received as much as one hundred dollars per annum for 
any one j-ear's work in the ministry. Truly religion in those 
days was " without money and without price." 

Elder Bates's church must have wielded an influence for good 
over this large district, and through his ministry it was held to- 
gether in the covenant of the gospel for many years. Several 
persons are still living, who remember to have heard him preach, 
and though he was wanting in the graces of oratory and the 
finish of a scholastic education, all bear testimony to the fervor 
and force of his pulpit efforts and also to the moral purity and 
excellence of his life and conduct. It is a matter of profound 
regret that no records or statistics of this church should have 
been handed down to us. In January, 1808, a terrible calamity 
befel him. His house, with nearly all its contents, was consumed 
by fire. His father-in-law, the venerable Abner Groffe, perished 
in the flames. At the same time all the minutes and records 
of the church were destroyed. 

Elder Bates continued to preach until he was about seventy- 
five years old, when he surrendered the work so well begun, 
into younger hands. This labor, be it said, was so poorly re- 
munerated, that in no year of his ministry had he received any- 
thing like a full support, and like the earlier disciples, he 
was dependent upon his daily labor for his daily bread. The 
tranquil evening of his life was protracted to the I9th day of 
January, 1840, when in. his eighty-seventh year he passed to his 
eternal reward. His wife had preceded him to the eternal 
bourne, on the 21st of April, 1836, at the age of seventy-six. 

Adjacent churches .and congregations soon began to draw 
largely upon this little fold in the wilderness, and its sustaining 
head being removed, it began to languish and dwindle away, 
until about the year 1825, it ceased to have a visible existence. 

were favored with Baptist preaching occasionally from Elders Clark and Bates, 
The latter, being the pastor of the Queensbury church, preached a portion of the 
time to this branch. 

Meetings were held in barns and private dwellings during this period of time. 
A most precious revival was enjoyed, and many were added to this infant body." — 
Washington County Gazetteer, p. 146, by Allen Corey. Published at Greenwich 
1849. 



192 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURT. 

II. 
THE FIRST QUEENSBURY, OR ONEIDA CHURCH. 

The interest which built up this congregatiou, origrnated iu 
a series of meetings held at Dunham's bay, iu the years 1831 
and 2. These were instituted by Elder Phineas Culver,^ for a 
long period pastor of the Fort Ann, and Kingsbury churches, 
who on a visit to his brother-in-law William Lane, found a few 
faithful brethren living around the head waters of Lake George. 
A revival ensued, several were added to the church, and after a 
period, the meetings were removed to the Vaughn school- 
house, not far from the present residence of Reuben Seelye, 
Esq. The meetings were continued here, and in various ad- 
jacent school houses, until the house of worship at the Oneida 
was erected. The church organization is here given from their 
own record book in the following language. 

" Be it remembered, that on this 13th day of !N"ovember, 1832, 
the following brethren and sisters met according to previous 
appointment, and entered into Church Covenant with each 
other, at the house of William Lane, in Queensbury, viz : 

James Fuller, Betsey Fuller, 

Franklin Guilford, Samantha Guilford, 

Aaron Kidder, Amanda Kidder, 

Isaac Nelson, Amy Nelson, 

A. M. Odell, Marian Odell, 

Eli Pettis, Lucy Pettis, and 
William Niles." Thirteen persons. 

It is further recorded that they " adopted, as a brief summary 
of their faith, the articles of faith and Covenant of the Kings- 
bury church, while they received the New Testament in common 
with the Old, as their only rule of faith and practice. Elders 

' These meetings were often held in barns, and private dwellings, and occa- 
sionally in the widely separated school houses. The neighborhood is even yet full 
of the gossip and anecdotes developed by the sharp and animated rivalry between 
the brethren of the Baptist persuasion, and the followers of Wesley. One of the 
latter sect, who itinerated in this region, frequently divided the interest of this 
neighborhood by holding opposition meetings, and inveighing with peculiar acri- 
mony against the Calvinistic doctrines, and exclusive notions of the Baptists. 

On one occasion, Elder Culver, after annihilating his oi)poneut'8 arguments, and 
holding up his views to a scathing tirade of sarcasm, finally cooled down to a con- 



THE CHURCHES. 193 

"William Grant, and Phineas Culver being present, assisted in 
the organization, giving them fellowship, and hearty approba- 
tion, and Elder Culver preached the coustituting sermon." . 
(Kecord book, p. 1.) 

Austin M. Odell was chosen clerk, and Aaron Kidder their 
first deacon, who, with Ansel Winchip, was formally ordained 
on the 20th of February, 1834. Having no regular pastor, nor 
house of worship for years, the organization increased but 
slowly. In September, 1833, they united with the Lake George 
Baptist Association, which at that time held its 17th anniversary 
at Hague, Warren county, IST. Y. The Association then re- 
ported 11 churches, 7 pastors and 988 members in their whole 
body. While this new interest, of 19 members only, was not 
identical in organization with Elder Bates's church, it was its 
successor upon nearly the same territory, and among many of 
the same people. No doubt some of his flock came into the 
new church, since it is recorded that Elder Bates and his wife 
joined by letters from the second Fort Ann church, at Welch 
hollow at South bay, on the 9th of August, 1834. Although an 
octogenarian, he was chosen a delegate to the association which 
met that year at Caldwell. His associates were A. M. Odell, 
Ansel Winchip, William J^iles, and F. Guilford. 

The necessities of the people had called for Baptist preaching 
about this period, and various ministers had come into town, 
preached and baptized their converts, thereby adding them to 
their respective churches in adjacent towns. Among this 
number Elder John C. Holt, of Moreau, had ofliciated here, and 
in a powerful revival of religion during the years 1832-3, he 
added about 80 to his church, a large proportion of whom lived 
in this town, and afterwards helped to swell the ranks of its 
rising churches. 

On the west,Elder Stephen Call, pastor of the Luzerne church, 
made frequent inroads, and baptized converts into his church, 
who subsequently aided in establishing the West, or Mountain 
church. 

During the first four years, there were comparatively few 
accessions to the church at the Oneida. 



dition of apparent candor, and Christian charity, and remarked that nothing was 
created in vain ; that even the Methodists were doing some good by reaching a 
class that no other denomination could influence ; in short, that they held the 
same relation to the Christian church, that the swill barrel does to the farmer's 
kitchen, receiving the rejected offal that was only fit for the hogs. 
25 



194 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBUEY. 

In the fall of 1835, there was reported a membership of 35, 
with Elder John Scofield as pastor, who served in that capacity 
until the spring of 1837. During his pastorate the house of 
worship near the Oneida was erected, and although the humble 
edifice was not entirely finished, the Lake George Association 
held its twentieth anniversary there on the 7th and 8th of Sep- 
tember, 1836. The venerable Elder Bates, then 84. years of age, 
with Elder Scofield, Deacon Ansel Winchip, J. Winchip, and 
E. Sargeant, were the delegates on that occasion. The meeting 
was one of unusual interest, and was followed by a revival in 
which 25 converts were' added, and 18 members joined by letter, 
thus increasing the membership to 74. Elder Jeremy H. 
Dwyer assisted the pastor during the season of revival. 

In the spring of 1838, Marvin Eastwood, who had been reared 
in the west part of the town, and licensed to preach by the 
Mountain church, began to labor with this congregation, and on 
the 11th of September following, was ordained to the ministry. 
A revival soon followed, and by the ensuing spring fifty-five con- 
verts had been added to the church, which with those who 
joined by letter, swelled the membership to 127. During this 
pastorate the church was increased to its maximum number of 
140 members. Elder Eastwood ^ removed to Waterford in 1841, 
and was succeeded by Elder Simon Fletcher ^ who had charge 
of the church for one year. Elder John Duncan,^ who had been 
pastor of the church at Kingsbury street, served the church 
another year. 

The next in order in charge of this church, was Elder O. H. 
Capron, from Galway, N. Y., who remained three years, during , 
which period, an interesting revival season was held, in which 
about 25 were added to the church. Its total membership at 
this time was reported at 131. He left in 1846, and subse- 
quently returned, for another term of labor, in 1851-2, with 
small results in the way of church growth. 

' During his stay with this people, Elder Eastwood received a salary varying 
from $100 to $300, with some few additional perquisites. He spent three years at 
Waterford, N. Y., where, during a powerful revival in 1843, he added upwards of 
70 to the church. 

* Elder Fletcher's salary was $350. Some unhappy dissensions arose during 
his pastorate, which impaired much of his usefulness. He afterwards labored in 
several of the cliurches of Warren county, and finally died at Johnsburgh, N. Y., 
in the year 1865. 

' Elder Duncan has since filled several important pulpits, and attained, several 
years since, tlie title and dignity of D.D. He is now pastor of a large church at 
Fall River, Mass. 



THE CHURCHES. 195 

After the removal of Elder Capron/ Elder John H, Barker 
cast his lot with this people and during two years ministered to 
their spiritual wants, gathering in but small harvest, however, as 
the field had been so thoroughly gleaned by his predecessor.^ 

In 1849 Elder Ira Bentley received a call to officiate in this 
church, and remained two years. But causes, which neither 
pastor nor people could control, had been at work for years 
to arrest the growth of the church, and divert its membership 
to other centres of busijuess and worship, so that after a strug- 
gling existence for years, there has no pastor been settled over 
the church since the removal of Elder Capron in 1853. Occa- 
sional services have been held,^ and an occasional baptism per- 
formed since that. time. The forsaken sanctuary, windowless, 
and dilapidated, stands like a wreck upon the bleak hillside, 
overlooking the tombstones of its once numerous worshippers; 
possibly awaiting the voice of some Ezra or Haggai to call the 
people together, rebuild the shattered temple, and restore the 
long neglected worship of the everliving God within its once 
hallowed walls. 



III. 

THE SECOND QUEENSBURY, OR WEST MOUNTAIN 
CHURCH. 

As already intimated, a few Baptists lived in the south-west 
part of the town, early in the history of the township, who may 
have been connected across the river at the Big bend, with the 

' In April 1853, Elder Capron removed to Hebron, Washington county, N. 
Y., where, after a brief illness, he died on the 19th of June, 1854. 

^ He removed to Adamsville in 1848, where he spent several years. He has 
since served the First Fort Edward church, the Hebron N. Y., and Rupert, Vt., 
churches, and is now settled again at Adamsville, where his declining years are 
passed in the supply of a feeble church. 

^ From 1858 to '61, Elders C. R. Green, and Ransom 0. Dwyer, preached here 
a portion of the time. According to the Association statistics tbere have been 
about 240 persons connected with this church of whom 130 were baptized into its 
fellowship. It was connected with the Lake George Baptist Association, from 
1833 to '39 after which, it united with the Washington Union body. 

The succession of clerks is as follows : Augustin M. Odell, 1833 to '35 ; Ansel 
Winchip, 1836, 1857, to '60 ; Charles Beadlestone, 1837 to '40 ; Jesse Ring, 1840 
to '50 ; Morrill Baker 1850 to '57. Tobias Clements 1860 since when, all returns 
to the Association have ceased. 

Aaron Kidder, Ansel Winchip, John Winchip, William Vaughn, Edwin Sco- 
field and Abel R. Mason are all the deacons of the church of whom we have any 
record. 



196 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

Moreau church for a while. These were afterwards united to 
the Luzerne church over the mountain, which, from 1813 to 
1827, was attached to the Saratoga Association. Since that 
period the progress and history of this interest can be traced by 
the aid of the Minutes of the Washington, and Washington 
Union Baptist Association, with which it has been connected. 

In June, 1827, at the first anniversary of the association above 
named, the Luzerne church was represented by Elder Stephen 
Call, and Allen Seymour, who reported 108 members in the 
fellowship. The next year, it was designated as the Baptist 
church of Luzerne and Queensbury, and Elder Call, D. Fair- 
child, and Henry Moses, were the delegates. How many of 
this church were residents of Queensbury, there are no present 
means of determining. Elder Call continued his pastorate as 
late as the year 1837. When the Washington Union Associa- 
tion was formed at Hartford, N. Y., in June, 1835, by the con- 
solidation of the Washington and Bottskill bodies, this church 
went into the new organization, reporting at that time 34 bap- 
tisms, and a total of 127 members. 

The digest of the state of the churches for 1836, says of this 
church, " they are inconveniently situated, being separated by 
a rugged mountain, in consequence of which, the members on 
either side have but little intercourse, and they think of be- 
coming two separate churches." In 1838, the Luzerne church 
was present, with returns of only 49 members, and Dea. Moses 
Randall, who had been recently licensed, as their preacher. 
The Second Queensbury, was represented in the association 
the same year, by Elder Charles Williams, Dea. David Barber, 
Lewis Wood, Henry Moses and David Williams. They reported 
no aggregate membership but we find the following in the 
digest for that year. " The Second Baptist church in Queens- 
bury has been constituted since our last session, have enjoyed 
a powerful revival of religion, and have received an addition of 
40 or 50 by baptism. Have a sabbath school and bible class, 
and are in union. Elder J. H. Dwyer preaches to them one- 
fourth part of the time." With those set oflF from Luzerne, 
they must have numbered about 80 members. The germ of 
this new church was called Elder Williams' Conference, and 
Elders A. Wait, of Fort Edward, Norman Fox, residing at 
Glen's Falls, and supplying the Kingsbury church, and John 
Scofield of the Oneida, preached and baptized here occa- 
sionally. Elder Williams was reported as pastor from 1838 to 



THE CHURCHES. 197 

'41, during which period the meeting house at the foot of the 
mountain was erected an.d dedicated.^ 

For want of authentic records, little can be said of the pro- 
gress of this society further than that after Elder Williams, 
Elder Dwyer served them in 1842, and Elder M. Randall for 
two or three years following. In 1843, the baptism of 12 is re- 
corded, and in 1845 that of seven more is mentioned, together 
with a total of 75 members. Since then no statistics are attain- 
able, until 1860, when Elder R. 0. Dwyer again represented the 
church, and reported 12 members, and again in 1863 with 20, 
having baptized that year a solitary convert. This church has 
furnished three candidates for the ministry viz. Moses Randall, 
Marvin Eastwood, and David Barber, all about the year 1836. 
Only the first two have been ordained fully to the work. 

The following persons have served as deacons, namely : Dan'l 
Fairchild, Moses Randall, Lewis Wood, David Barber, Henry 
Moses, David Williams and Orrin Van Duzen. 

The list of clerks is as follows : Martin Eastwood, 1835 to '8 ; 
Lewis Wood 1838 to '40 ; Ezra L Buckbee, 1840 to '44 and 
H. Van Duzen, 1844, onwards. 

During the winter and spring of 1870, services in the old 
church were revived by Elder C. H. Nash, pastor of the church 
at Glen's Falls, who has preached on alternate sabbath after- 
noons, and baptized several converts. 



IV. 

THE BAPTIST CHURCH OF GLEN'S FALLS. 

From what has been said of the increase of Baptists in various 
parts of the town, about the years 1830-'33, after the decay and 
extinction of the old church at the Round pond, it is evident 
that the material had been accumulating for an organization at 
the village of Glen's Falls, which, up to this period, had been 
unoccupied by the Baptists. A few of that faith had been resi- 
dents of the place from the commencement of the century ; a few 

' The land was given by Mr. Abraham Van Duzen ; Mr. David Burnhani and 
son contributed liberally for the house. But the Baptist friends furnished the 
money chiefly to erect and complete the building. It has been called a Union 
House because it was thus built. It has been used freely by the Methodists as 
well as the Baptists. The building is about 32 X 45 feet, and probably cost about 
|1,200, when new. 



198 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

others had removed hither from time to time, and settled here 
or in the immediate viciuity. Duriug the great revival in Elder 
Holt's congregation in 1831-33, he baptized a goodly number 
in the river at Glen's Falls, among whom were several residents 
of the village. Of this number were Dea. Asa Viele, and his 
wife, who in after years, were active members. 

In the summer of 1832, a movement was inaugurated looking 
to the permanent establishment of the Baptist church in the 
village. Unfortunately for the purposes contemplated, the re- 
cords of this church for the first thirty years of its existence, 
were consumed in the great fire of the 31st of May, 1864, and 
to some extent the compiler of this sketch is dependent upon 
the memories of its older members. Complete files of the 
minutes of the Washington Union Association, to which this 
church has belonged from its commencement, furnish in great 
part the missing data. 

In contemplation of writing a historical sketch of the various 
religious bodies of Glen's Falls, the author of this work was 
furnished an abstract of the minutes in 1861, from which the 
following extract is taken. ^ 

" On the 11th of August, 1832, according to appointment, thirty 
brethren and sisters met at the Red school house,^ in the west 
part of the village. Chose Elder J. C. Holt, moderator, and 
Moses Soper, clerk. They then passed the following resolu- 
tion : 

" Resolved, That we will meet with the professors of religion of 
the Baptist Order in the village of Glen's Falls and vicinity for 
religious conference, and the prosperity of Zion ; and that we 
assume the name of The Glen's Falls Baptist Conference." By the 
same document we learn the date of the full church organization 
as recorded in the following language, viz : 

" On Thursday, March 11, 1834, by request of the conference, 



' This abstract was kindly furnished by Col. Hiram K. Colvin, at that time clerk, 
to whose memory, as a passing tribute of regard for a highly valued friend, now 
gone to his reward, the author would say, that he was a genial, kind hearted, stead- 
fast and reliable man, exemplary in his life and conduct, and whose public spirit 
and enterprise were so marked that the entire community, at liis decease, deplored 
his loss as one not readily to be replaced. 

' The Old Red School House stood nearly upon the site of the present brick 
school house in District No. 20, at the junction of West and South streets. Tra- 
dition hands us down a story of Presbyterian opposition to this meeting, by which 
the door was found locked, and the windows fastened, when the hour for meeting 
had arrived. One of the sturdy brethren met the unexpected obstacle by taking 
an axe and knocking the door from its fastenings. 



THE CHURCHES. 199 

the following churches, represented by delegates, met to or- 
ganize a Baptist church at the village, namely, Moreau, Green- 
field, Luzerne, Queensbury, Kingsbury, Hartford, Fort Edward, 
Milton, and Burnt Hills. The council organized by appointing 
Elder John Harris moderator, and Elder Norman Fox for clerk. 
A committee of seven was appointed to draft articles of faith, 
and a covenant to be adopted by said church ; viz. Brethren 
Harris, Skinner, Baldwin, Grant, Fox, Holt and Billings. As 
soon as the committee made their report, it was accepted and 
adopted unanimously. A motion was then made that the right 
hand of fellowship be given to said church. Elder Harris, of 
Burnt Hills, preached the sermon ; Elder H. C. Skinner, of 
Greenfield, extended the hand of fellowship in behalf of said 
council; and Elder Henry F. Baldwin, of Hartford, addressed 
them as a church." 

During the first five years, this little fiock had no regular 
pastor. In 1837-8, the elders of the association, were detailed 
in order successively to visit and preach to this congregation 
once in every mouth as a gratuity. From the year 1834 to 
1840 only 10 had been added by baptism to the church and in 
the last named year a membership of 53 was reported, the same 
aggregate with which they started. But better times were at 
hand. The season of their extremity became God's opportunity, 
and he sent them, as a co worker in this portion of his vineyard, 
Elder Amos R. Wells, who by his industry, devotion, and self- 
sacrificing eftbrts, commenced building the sure foundations of 
this New Zion, upon which so fair and goodly a superstructure 
has since been added. He united with the church by letter on 
the 1st of May, 1839, and became its first pastor. He found 
less than forty members in its communion, and, in the words of 
the last report made to the association, "they were a feeble 
band, under discouraging circumstances, sometimes almost 
ready to give up their vitality, but at other times more encour- 
aged. The disappointment endured in not having more than 
half the preaching promised the last year, was very great, but 
the coming of one half of the pastors, was as cold water to a 
thirsty soul." In this forlorn condition Elder "Wells took charge 
of them, made their case his own, and labored in faith and hope 
for about seven years, inspiring them by his zeal and self deny- 
ing endeavors, to build a house of worship. This building was 
commenced in the spring of 1840, and was completed, and finally 



200 HISTORY OP THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

dedicated on the 30th of March, 1842; Elder Joseph Fletcher 
of Saratoga Springs preaching the sermon of dedication.^ A 
series of meetings followed, in which the pastor was assisted 
by Elder James Delanj, then of Kingsbury, and through whose 
instrumentality many were added to the church. 

Elder Wells steadily continued his ministry until the fall of 
1845, when for a few months his place was occupied by Elder 
Asa Bronson.^ In 1846 Elder Walls resumed his labors here 
for another year, when he finally terminated his pastorate, whose 
duties had been so long, faithfully, and laboriously discharged 
by him.^ During his ministry, from 1839 to 1846, the church 
received about 120 to her membership, of whom Elder Wells 
baptized about 50, and lost 55 in various ways. He found 38, 
and left a membership of 107. His salary was inadequate * to 

' It was the same building now occupied by the Baptists on Maple, facing 
Church street. It has since, been greatly improved, and somewhat enlarged. 
The material is of brick, with a full sized basement 40 by 60 feet, having a bap- 
tistry, bell-tower and bell, the original cost of all which, was probably not less 
than $5000. It has been asserted that its cost equalled the actual capital of all 
the membership at the time it was built. The burden of this was lightened in 
great degree by the liberal contributions of friends from abroad, who generously 
responded to the appeals of Elder Wells, and his struggling parish. The amount 
of these benefactions can not now be accurately stated, but, in the year 1841, alone, 
about $420 was contributed by eight of the sister churches embraced iu the asso- 
ciation. 

* He had been a very useful minister at Fall River, Mass., for many years, and 
had also served the First Baptist church of Albany, the previous year. An able 
preacher and exemplary man, he spent about two months as pastor of the two 
churches at Glen's Falls and Sandy Hill, but being recalled, he returned to the 
field of his former successful labors in May, 1846. 

" In 1847 he supplied the Baptist church at North Hebron, N. Y. In 1850-1 he 
filled the pulpit of the first Fort Ann church, where he perfonned his last ministe- 
rial labors. This church bore the following testimony to his merit, in a letter to 
the association in 1852. " Our former pastor, Elder A. R. Wells, closed his labors 
in the spring of 1851, and was soon called to his rest and reward. So long as he 
remained among us, he continued to be esteemed and beloved by his brethren, and 
by all lovers of good men. for his firm adherence to the doctrines of the gospel, 
his amiable and Christian spirit, and his exemplary and godly life." 

* There are few who realize how much the Baptist cause in Glen's Falls is in- 
debted to the patient toil and unselfish sacrifices of Elder Amos R. Wells, and his 
faithful wife. Their remains rest in the village cemetery, the spot being marked by 
a neat monument of marble upon which is engraved the following inscription, viz : 

REV. AMOS R. WELLS, 
Born Nov. 19, 1794, 
Died June 10, 1851. 



SARAH WHITEHEAD, 

Wife of Amos R. Wells, born April 25, 1800, 

Died Nov. 27, 1864. 



THE CHURCHES. 201 

the support of his familj. His wearisome labors, aad persistent 
industry, deserved a better recompense than he received. But 
the days of his zeal and devotion are not yet forgotten, and the 
impress of his labors still rest upon the church as a seal of his 
effective ministry. 

In the autumn of 1846, Elder William W. Moore of Lansing- 
burgh, N. Y., was called to the pastorate, dividing his time be- 
tween this church, and the one at Sandy Hill, in order to obtain 
an adequate support, for the space of two years. His gifts as a 
preacher were of a superior order. A revival of great interest 
ensued the following winter, as the result of which 95 members 
were added to the church, 64 of whom were newly baptized 
converts. He dissolved his connection with this church in the 
fall of 1848, continuing his pastorate over the Sandy Hill society 
another year.^ During his ministry here the church attained a 
membership of 170. 

With such a field of labor, and so large a congregation it is 
not surprising, that the people should feel that the exclusive 
services of a pastor were needed. 

Late in the summer of 1849, Horace G. Mason,^ a native of 
Granville, IST. Y,, was called to officiate. In September follow- 
ing he was ordained, and immediately entered upon the active 
duties of his charge. His ministry was attended with gratifying 
results, by the addition of considerable numerical strength, and 
material resources to the church. Although but a youth, he 
served with great acceptance, and among other solid works done, 
was the clearing up of a mortgage on the church, which had 
weighed down and paralyzed its energies from its infancy. 
During his brief pastorate about 100 members were added to 
the church, and upwards of $200 contributed towards various 
objects of Christian benevolence, besides quite an amount spent 
in refitting and repairing their place of <vorship. His health 
failing, his resignation was tendered and accepted in the summer 
of 1852. 

He was succeeded by Elder A. G. Bowles, who held the 
charge for about one and a half years, at first giving good 
satisfaction, but toward the close of his engagement serious 

* He then removed to Albany and assumed the charge of the State street church. 

''He .was of a ministerial family, having two brothers already in the sacred 
otfice, namely. Elders J. O. Mason, D.D., of Granville, N. T., and J. T. Mason, of 
Sterling, 111. 

26 



202 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURT. 

accusations were preferred against him, which became the sub- 
ject of a public trial by a council of the clergy, greatly to the 
scandal of the church, and resulting in his dismissal.^ 

A few months later Elder Charles Ferguson was engaged, a 
man whose signal piety and devotion, have left the impress of 
his labors upon the church to the present day. He was a man 
to whose large experience, and faculties, matured in former 
fields of labor, was added such a depth of piety, and active con- 
secration to his work, that his ministry was abundantly blessed. 
Thirty were added to the church during each of the first two 
years of his service, and the third year over one hundred were 
added, nearly eighty of whom were new converts ; the largest 
gain this church has ever experienced in any one year. An 
attack of pulmonary hemorrhage in the spring of 1858, the re- 
sult, probably, of excessive and exhaustive pulpit labors, forced 
him to a resignation of his charge. Greatly to the credit of the 
church, his salary was maintained and paid up to the time of 
his decease, which occurred in February, 1859.^ During his 
ministry of four years, 170 were added, raising the membership 
to 284, exclusive of all the losses of those years, in which nearly 
eighty were dismissed to other churches, and twenty died. 

In the interim, occurring before a successor to Elder Ferguson 
was chosen. Elder A. D, Milne, who established The Messenger, 
printed here, and who was engaged also in the publication of a 
Baptist periodical, filled the desk and ministered to the wants 
of the church. 

In August,- 1858, Elder Daniel T. Hill, from Carmel, Putnam 
county, N. Y., was engaged, and filled the pastorate for one 
year. After dissolving his connection with this cburch, he be- 

' He afterwards served several cliurclies in western New York, and died at Hor- 
nelsville, 11th October, 1869, aged 50 years. 

^ During the year 1855-6, he preached on the south side side of the river Sun- 
day afternoons, and bajitized 24 into that church. His widow, at her removal, re- 
ceived a parting gift of $200 from the church. The following record was entered 
on the minutes of the association, in June, 1859. " Elder Charles Ferguson, late 
pastor of the church at Glen's Falls, will not soon be forgotten among- you. His 
life and ministry were characterized by great zeal for the conversion of sinners, 
and his labors in various places for years, ' in season and out of season,' by night 
and by day were owned of God. Though called away in the meridian of his life, 
it was not short, because it answered life's great end. Death did not take our 
brother by surprise, the Saviour was with him in all his afflictions, and did not 
forsake him in the final conflict. We commend his mourning widow and father- 
less children to your synipatliies and prayers, and the life and zeal of our brother 
to your imitation, as he followed Christ." 



THE CHURCHES. 203 

came zealously interested in the church across the river where, 
chiefly through his efforts, a house of worship was built in 1860 
or 61.1 

From the fall of 1859 to'60, the pastorate was filled by Elder 
L. H. Purington, of Rensselaerville, who resigned, and removed 
on account of ill health. 

He was followed in October of the latter year by D, C. 
Hughes, who was ordained the following month, and who served 
the church for two and a half years during the turbulent and 
exciting period of the war, with great acceptance, dividing his 
labors with the church at Sandy Hill.^ 

Elder C. A. Skinner, the next in order, filled the pulpit for 
one year from September, 1863, gathering into the church about 
45, of which number he baptized 27. He afterwards removed 
to Massachusetts. 

On the first of October, 1864, Elder James M. Ferriss was 
called to the pastorate from Preston Hollow, Albany co., N. Y. 
During the four years of his ministry here, the church enjoyed 
two seasons of revivals, in which he baptized over 70, and added 
36 by letter, increasing the membership to 284. In the spring 
of 1866, the church edifice was renovated and repaired, the 
number of sittings increased, and the building furnished with 
carpets, cushions and gas fixtures. On the first week in June, 
1866, the association held its thirty-second anniversary here. 

Elder Ferriss resigned in October, 1868.^ In November, fol- 
lowing. Elder Charles H. ISTash was engaged as the supply for the 
winter, and in the spring he was settled as pastor.^ Since that 
time, about $1,400 has been raised to extinguish a debt on the 
church. His pulpit ministrations and pastoral labors have thus 
far proved eminently satisfactory, and his quiet industry, great 

■ A large debt was left on this South Glen's Falls church, which was afterwards 
cleared off by the self denying efforts and unsparing industry of Elder Stephen 
Wright. His labors in this connection covered a period of about one and a half 
years, from October, 1865, to April, 1867. 

^ Elder Hughes, after serving the churches at Sandy Hill and Fort Edward for a 
few months, accepted a call to Oswego, N. Y., and is now located at the city of 
Newark, N. J. 

' He removed to Hartford, Washington county, N. Y., where, during the follow- 
ing winter, a wonderful revival was enjoyed by which 143 were added to the 
church by baptism. Elder Ferriss removed in May, 1870, to Marion, Wayne co., 
N. Y. 

* He had served the Baptist church at Westport, Essex co., for four years and a 
half with great acceptance, having been ordained there in January, 1865. 



204 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

purity of character and devotion to his calling, have won the 
warm regard of all who know him. 

The following brethren have acted as deacons, viz : Henry 

Moses, Squires, Asa Velie, Daniel Numan, Palmer, 

A. L. McOraber, W. A. Faxon, Wm. Henry Moses, Freeman 
Mason, and Zina Cowles. 

The following have served as clerks of the church, Peter Peck, 
1834; A. W. Phillips, 1838; H. Green, 1844; Jas. Trumbull 
jr., 1846; John Skym, 1848; Hiram K Colviu, 1853; P. H. 
Corey, 1860 ; Joseph Saflbrd, 1862 ; D. H. Cowles, 1863 ; C. H. 
Faxon, 1864; J. H. Allen, 1866; C. B. Ide, 1867; Merritt 
Ames, 1868.' 



THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 

In the absence of written records, it cannot be determined 
with precision at this late day, when the first services of this 
religious body, were held in this town. 

A few families, with predilections for this faith, had migrated 
and settled here soon after the Revolutionary war. These were 
mostly, from the town of New Fairfield and neighboring settle- 
ments along the western borders of the state of Connecticut. 
To this small number, were added from time to time, fresh ac- 
cessions from the same source. 

Traditions are yet handed down to us of the earlier matrons 
of our village who accompanied their husbands on horseback, 
or riding on pillions behind them, forded the swift current at 
the iSand beach ; or in other instances walking the perilously 
narrow path of string pieces which spanned the seething 
waters of the Gulf, ^ to attend the occasional ministrations 

' The author begs to acknowledge his indebtedness to Elder Stephen Wright 
for his compilation and arrangement of the material from which this sketch has 
been condensed, and of which in many instances the exact language has been used. 

'' In the Warren Messenger, of February 5th, 13th, and 19th, 1831, there were 
published a series of articles entitled Rt^collections, over the signature of Har- 
low. From these are extracted the following quotations : 

" The Presbyterian Church was framed in 1805-6. The Rev Mr. Boardman its 
first ordained minister." ****<■ String pieces for crossing the 
Hudson at our village, were constructed in 1786, whicli extended from the island 
to cither shore. These endured about three years, when the present bridge, aud 




FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CIIUUCII OP GLENS FALLS. 

Erected 18G7. 



THE CHURCHES. 205 

and services of their Congregational neighbors at the Union 
Church near Reynolds' corners in Moreau, which was erected 
about the year 1800. Of this handful there were not wanting 
a few who, in exercise of their devotion, carefully carried their 
stockings and shoes in hand by the way, until near the place of 
worship, when some mossy bank, or wayside log answered the 
convenience required for their rustic toilet. At a still earlier 
date occasional opportunities were afforded for participating in 
the services of the Congregational society at the River church, 
in Moreau, by crossing the ferry at the Black-House. * This 
church was erected in the year 1796, and the Rev. Lebbeus Arm- 
strong was installed as pastor over it in the year 1803. 

The Corners,^ as our village was then often called, was but 
a small hamlet, without post office, or church building, whose 
scattered dwellings, mostly built of logs, and bordered by "the 
forest primeval," gave but little indication or promise of the pre- 
sent growth and activity of the place. 

Doubtless, occasional services by traveling or itinerant 
preachers, were held in the neighborhood, as the following re- 
ceipt from the papers of the late Hermon Peck, Esq., would 
seem to show. This paper bears date 24th February, 1806, is 
signed by Abial Russell, and acknowledges the payment from 
Mr. Reuben Peck,^ to him of fourteen shillings and six pence 
for schooling his child one quarter, and twenty-four shillings 
for supplying with preaching one quarter. These services were 
held in the school house, which then occupied the site of the 
writer's residence on Elm street.^ 



toll-house were built." * * * * " The mole at the Sand beach with 
the mills it supported, was carried away in a freshet, and few traces of its original 
situation can at this time be discovered." 

' An inn of considerable note in the early history of Washington county. The 
building is still standing by the side of the old turnpike from Whitehall to Troy, 
about three miles below the village of Fort Edward. 

" In 1803, Mr. Reuben Peck was one chosen by several subscribers to this object, 
to employ two teachers to keep a select school. One of these, a gentleman by the 
name of Randall, then fresh from Yale College, was engaged to teach the lan- 
guages, and higher mathematics, while John Hitchcock, a son of Dr. Zina Hitch- 
cock, of Kingsbury, was employed for the ordinary English branches. The school- 
house referred to above, was a framed building of one story, and having a fire place 
at each end. This was divided into two rooms, with a door between. It was fre- 
quently used as a place for holding religious meetings ; where Jehiel Fox, and 
other traveling ministers often preached, and held services ; the minister standing 
in the middle doorway, within view and hearing of the audience seated on either 
hand. — Relation of Mrs. Elmore Piatt, March, 1871. 

^ The author has testimony from those who are still living, that Mr. Russell was 
a Presbyterian minister. 



206 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBUEY. 

The first effort, of which we have any authentic account, in the 
direction of building a church edifice within the present limits 
of the corporation of Glen's Falls, was made in the year 1803, 
when a movement was projected for the construction of a Union 
church, somewhere in the vicinity of the Four Corners, which 
should be free to all, and the exclusive property of no one reli- 
gious denomination. In furtherance of this object a subscription 
paper, of which the following is a copy, was drawn up, on the 
fourth of March, of the year above named, to which subscriptions 
varying in amount from one, to two hundred and fifty dollars, 
and reaching an aggregate of over thirteen hundred dollars, 
were obtained in the course of the three followiog months. This 
subscription seems to have been turned over to Mr. Parsons 
Ranger, who had the contract for building.^ 

Copy of the Subscription Paper. 

" We the subscribers, whose names are hereunto annexed, do 
promise to pay to a committee to be chosen by a majority of 
the subscribers, such sums as shall be annexed to our respective 
names for the purpose of erecting a house of public worship in 
the town of Queensbury, county of Washington, somewhere 
near the Four Corners. And further, it is hereby agreed and 
understood, that when a committee shall be chosen by the ma- 
jority of the subscribers, that then the committee are hereby 
authorized to call on each subscriber for the sums which shall 
be subscribed, and make such use of it, as a majority of the 
committee shall think proper, for the purpose aforesaid men- 
tioned, that of building a house of public worship. And also 
the committee shall be hereby authorized to erect the aforesaid 
building on such a spot of ground as they shall think proper, 
somewhere near the Four Corners, aforesaid mentioned, and it 
is further agreed by the subscribers that the committee to be 
chosen shall be agreed on, the first day of June next. 

Queensbury, March 4th, 1803." 

Warren Ferriss, §250.00 De Hart & Iluyck, $100.00 

John A. Ferriss, 100 00 Henry Spencer, 20.00 

Parsons Ranger, 50.00 Ellas Joiner, 5.00 

Peter Peck, 75 00 Alfred Ferriss, 10.00 

John Mallerey, 40.00 John Higsou, 10.00 

' This is inferred from the possession of the subscri])tion paper by the Ranger 
family, who have kindly allowed me the use of it for this publication. 



THE CHURCHES. 



207 



David Sanford, $25.00 

William Robards, 25.00 

Ahij ah Jones, 5.00 

John McGill, 25.00 

John Grorham, 5.00 

Elnathan Sanford, 12.00 

James Higson, 15.00 

Charles Lewis, 10.00 

Daniel W. Wing, 10.00 

John McGill jr., 30.00 

Benjamin Miller, 10.00 

Chester Church, 50.00 

Samuel Milliken, 5.00 

Adam Larkin, 2.00 

Stephen Gorham, 15 00 

Eliphalet Gilbert, 10.00 

Abraham Hendryx, 5.00 

Bogardus Parsons, 5.00 

Jonathan Pitcher jr., 5.00 

Amasa Millard, 10.00 

Jonathan Lord, 5.00 

James Smith, 5.00 

Thomas Coates, 5.00 

Elijah Williams, 5.00 

Eben Noble, 5.00 

William Wing, 8.00 

Benjamin Maxel, 5.00 

Gideon Church, 5.00 

Nehemiah Wing, 10.00 

Hermon HoflPman, 10.00 

Nathan Hays, 3.00 

Josiah Burnham, 6.00 

Lawrence I. Van Kleeck,.. 8.00 

John Pierce, 6.00 

David Burnham, 6.00 

John Van Duzen, 5.00 

John Van Duzen jun., 5.00 

Obadiah Ogden, 12.00 

David Ogden, 12.00 

Anson Comstock, 10.00 

Morris Ferriss, 5.00 

Micajah Pettit, 8150, " and 
as much more as any man 

will give," 150.00 



William Freeman, $5.00 

Jonathan Freeman, 2.00 

Thomas Hays, 5.00 

Thomas Curtis, 5.00 

Charles Baker, 5.00 

Doty Collamer, 2.00 

Aaron Priest jr., 1.00 

Reuben Caswell, 2.00' 

Salmon Snow, 2.00 

David Smith, 1.00 

Francis Fritz, 1.00 

Isaac Smith, 1.00 

John Malleryjr., 2.00 

Harvey Baxter, 1.00 

Uzziel Stevens, 5.00 

Jonathan Hammond, 1.00 

Stephen Jenkins, 2.00 

Jacob Welch, 1.00 

Peter Shader, 2.00 

Asa Ripley and Frederic 

Hubbell, 2.00 

Carr Jenkins, 2.00 

John Ripley, 1.00 

Seba Snow, 2.00 

Roger Downey, 1.00 

John McGill, 2.00 

Henry Shader, 1.50 

Samuel Law, 3.00 



Subscriptions made subsequent to 
June, 1806. 

Lyman Derby, 2.00 

Jonathan Sewell, 3.00 

Silas March, 2.00 

Jirah Skinner, 2.00 

Arzel Peirsons 2 galls, rum, 2.00 

Richard Wing, 1.00 

James P. Robertson, 2.00 

Daniel Fellows, 2.00 

John Derby, 1.00 

Joseph Clark, 1,00 



208 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBUEY. 

Israel P. Baldwin, $2.00 Robert Lewis, $1.00 

Daniel Peck lOlbs. nails,... 1.45 Justus Smith, 2.00 

Adam Rhodes, 1.00 Benjamin Wing jr., 5.00 

John Chadwick, 1.00 

Felix Alden, 1.00 Total $1,322.95 

Probably not over twelve hundred dollars of the above sum 
was collected, for, on one of the subscription papers quite an 
array of names are marked with the significant direction " to 
be sued." 

" June the 1st, 1803, a majority of the above subscribers being 
met at the house of Abraham Wing in Queensbury, made the 
following resolves : 

" 1st. That William Robards be chairman, and John A. 
Ferriss, clerk of this meeting. 

2d. " Resolved^ That there be a committee of seven to make 
arrangements agreeable to the subscription, and that Micajah 
Pettit, William Robards, John Y. W. Huyck, Peter Peck, John 
Mallery, Warren Ferriss, and John McGill, be a committee to 
carry into effect the above designed object. 

3d. "^e5o?yeo?. That the committee meet on the second Tuesday 
of June, inst., for the above purpose. 

" John A. Ferriss, clerk, William Robards, chairman." 

It would appear that the building progressed but slowly, for 
on the authority of one of its pastors it is stated that" this church 
remained without windows, or floor, or pews, or pulpit or paint, 
till the close of they ear 1806;" and the building was not com- 
pleted until the summer or fall of 1808.^ 

The corporation was organized on the 23d day of July, 1807, 
under the name of The Union Church of Pearl-village in the 
town of Queensbury. At the same time, the following trustees 
were chosen, viz : William Robards, Daniel Peck, John Folsom, 
William Hay, Micajah Pettit, John A. Ferriss. Two new 
trustees were to be elected each year, each holding their office 
for three years. ^ 

Whether any stated services were held under this organiza- 
tion previous to the completion of the church does not appear, 
but it would seem, that so soon as it was completed, arrange- 



^ An Histoi'iccU Sketch, by the pastor, Rev. A. J. Fennel, pp. 19 and 20. 
* See Manual of the Presbyterian Church, p. 14, by Rev. A. J. Fennel. 



THE CHURCHES. 209 

ments were made for the orgauization of a society. There was 
due notice given, and the Rev. Jonas Coe, pastor of the church 
in Troy, was sent for to preside at, and assist in the organization. 
Of him it is said, "he was a sort of bishop over all the region 
round about, ready to go, at any time, wherever his services 
wef e needed. He organized many of our churches ; and while 
they had no pastors, seemed to regard them as under his care, 
spending occasional sabbaths with them, preaching, and ad- 
ministering the Lord's Supper, thus doing for these churches 
what home missionaries in our new settlements have done so 
largely since his time." ^ 

Extracts from the Church Records. 

" In consequence of previous notice given to the congregation 
at Glen's Falls, they assembled in the church, on the 12th day 
of December, 1808, and after divine service, proceeded to choose 

' Historical discourse at the first stated meeting of the reunited Presbytery of 
Troy, February 20, 1871, by the Rev. J. H Noble, D.D., p. 34. The following bio- 
graphical sketch is taken from Woodworth's Eeminisceiices of Troy, p. 77. 

Jonas Coe was a son of John and Hannah (Halstead) Coe, and was born at 
New Hampstead, Orange co., N. Y., on the 20th of March, 1759. His father was 
an earnest patriot in the Revolution, and on one occasion, took with him into battle 
five sous, one of whom, then only sixteen years of age, is the subject of this sketch. 
In due time he became a member of Queen's (now Rutger's) College, New Bruns- 
wick, N. J., where he graduated in 1789. He spent his vacations in laboring on 
his father's farm, and occasionally at other times also, he returned home to render 
him temporary aid. 

He received the degree of master of arts from the College of New Jersey, in 1792, 
and from Union College in 1797. He pursued his theological studies under the 
direction of the Rev. Dr. Rodgers, of New York ; was taken under the care of the 
Presbytery of New York, Oct. 11th, 1790; and was licensed to preach on the 7th 
of October, 1791. He accepted a call to the two villages of Troy and Lausingburgh, 
was received by the Presbytery of Albany (after an examination of two days) on 
the 20th of February, 1793, and was ordained and installed on the 25th of June 
following. During the earlier years of his ministry he resided in Lansingburgh, 
removed to Troy in 1802, and there spent the remainder of his days. In 1803, the 
Troy society became a separate and self supporting church. At the time of his 
settlement over these congregations, almost the whole northern part of the state 
of New York, was a wilderness. As settlements commenced at various points, he 
visited them in the capacity of a missionary, endeavoring to aid them as far as he 
could, to the establishment of Christian institutions. In one of these benevolent 
excursions, he went as far north as Plattsburgh. The degree of doctor of divinity 
was conferred upon him by Middlebury College in 1815. He married first, Eliza 
Hunting, of Dutchess county, 27tli of September, 1794. Second, Abigail Wallace, 
14th of May, 1810. By his first wife he had three children. He died on the 2l8t 
of July, 1822. Dr. Coe's ministry was characterized by several remarkable revivals 
of religion. 

27 



210 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

church officers ; when Johu Folsom, and John Moss jr., were 
unanimously chosen ruling elders and David Sanford, deacon. 

" Mr. Sanford declining to accept the office of deacon, and 
Mr. Folsom having been ordained a ruling elder in the church 
of Albany, Mr. Moss was examined and approved, and was or- 
dained in his office on the 17th of December, by prayer, a»d a 
charge was given to him, and Mr. Folsom, to be faithful in dis- 
charging the duties of their office, and also to the congregation, 
urging them to discharge the duties incumbent on them. 

" On the sabbath following, a church was organized, consisting 
of Mary Folsom, Naomi Ranger, and Amey Sanford, who had 
been previously examined, and approved; and John Folsom, 
Elizabeth Folsom, Gl. Folsom, Solomon P. Goodrich, Ann 
Goodrich, and John Moss, on testimony of their regular stand- 
ing in the church of Christ in different parts of the country." 

At the same time was adopted the following " profession of 
faith, and covenant." 

I. " We believe that there is one self existent, independent, 
and eternal God, who possesses all possible glory and excellency; 
and who is the Creator, the Preserver, and the Governor of the 
universe. 

II. " We believe that there are three distinct persons in the 
Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost ; and that 
these three are one God, the same in substance, and equal in 
power and glory. 

III. " We believe that the scriptures of the Old and New 
Testament are the word of God, and the only infallible rule 
of faith and practice. 

IV. " We believe that man was originally created in a state 
of holiness, but has since fallen into a state of sin, in conse- 
quence of which, he hfis exposed himself to the wrath and curse 
of God, both in this life and that which is to come. 

V. " We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the second per- 
son of the Adorable Trinity, has actually assumed our nature, 
and by his obedience, sufferings, and death, has made atone- 
ment for sin in our stead ; and is now exalted at God's right 
hand, to be a Prince, and a Savior, to grant repentance and re- 
mission of sins to all who come unto God through Him. 

VI. " We believe in the doctrines of regeneration, repentance 
and faith, and, that, if ever w^e are saved, it will be owing to 
the free, rich, and Sovereign Grace of God in Jesus Christ. 



THE CHURCHES. 211 

VII. " We believe in the final perseverance of the saints, in 
the resurrection of the dead, and in a future judgment. 

VIII. " We believe that at the last day, the Lord Jesus will 
descend from heaven with a shout, and with the voice of the 
Archangel, and trump of God, and that he will then summons 
the whole human race to appear before him ; and doom the 
wicked to everlasting destruction, and crown the righteous with 
immortal glory. 

IX. " In the view of all these great, interesting and solemn 
truths, we do publicly renounce all our sins, and solemnly dedi- 
cate ourselves to God, avouching the Lord Jehovah to be our 
God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and hearken to 
his voice ; the Lord Jesus Christ to be our Savior and glorious 
Advocate with the Father; the Holy Ghost to be our Sanctifier 
and Comforter, and the people of God to be our brethren ; 
covenanting to walk with them in the ordinances and institu- 
tions of the Gospel, and engaging, in the strength of Divine 
Grace, that we will walk before God in holiness and righteous- 
ness all the days of our future lives, submitting ourselves to the 
watch, care, and discipline of Christ in this church." 

" After this, the sacrament of the Lord's Supper was ad- 
ministered to them, and to the churches of Kingsbury and 
Moreau, who were invited to their communion on that occasion 
and they were commended to the Lord." 

" For Jonas Coe, 
" John Folsom, Ss. Clerk." 
" Glen's Falls, December 18, 1808." 

From that date to the present day, the church organization 
through the election of trustees and ruling elders, seems to have 
been uninterruptedly maintained : It is to be presumed that 
immediate efforts were directed towards procuring a minister, 
and doubtless temporary supplies filled the pulpit, until their 
minister was engaged. The first notice to be found on the 
session's record of a settled pastor, bears the date of Sept. 17th, 
1809, when " the session met, according to appointment, and was 
constituted with prayer " (quoting the language of the record,) 
"by the moderator, WiUiam Boardman." But little has been 
learned concerning this, the first settled minister in Glen's 
Falls. His name does not occur upon the roll of the Presbytery 
of Columbia, which at that time embraced all the territory 



212 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

east of the ILuson river from the north line of Dutchess county, 
to the Canada boundary. It does not appear from the church 
minutes that he was ever installed here. During his brief pas- 
torate, which terminated in the full of 1811, the sessional records 
breathe a prayerful and devout spirit, and many were added by 
letter and profession to the church. The clerk bears involun- 
tary testimony to his usefulness, when he speaks of " the broken 
situation into which the societies were plunged by the unhappy 
loss of their former pastor the Rev. William Boardman." (a) 

It will be thus seen that in this charge, the Presbyterian 
(originally Congregational) church of Kingsbury, became asso- 
ciated, and from the minutes it would appear that the Rev. Mr. 
Boardman divided not only the sabbath day ministrations, but 
also his week day pastoral labors between the two places. 

Respecting these churches, Dr. Dwight, in one of his still at- 
tractive letters of travel, makes the following interesting allu- 
sion : under the date of Monday, Oct. 23, 1811, he speaks of 
dining at Glen's Falls, and after commenting upon the scenery, 
goes on to say : " At Fort Edward, Sandy Hill, and Glen's Falls, 
there are three handsome villages, greatly improved in every 
respect since my last journey through this region. In each of 
the two last, there is a neat Presbyterian church lately erected. 
A minister has been settled over both villages, on a salary of 
seven hundred dollars per annum ; a fact which proves at once 
the prosperity and good disposition of the inhabitants." 

It is presumed that at this time the engagement of Mr. Board- 
man with this people had already terminated. His relations 

(a) The Rev. William Boardman was born at Williamstown, Mass. , in 1782. He 
was educated and graduated at Williams College in 1799. Studied for the min- 
istry and was licensed to preach in 1803. He received his first call, and was settled 
at Duanesburgh, Schenectady cc, N. Y., wliere it is supposed that he was ordained. 
He remained pastor here, until about the time he was called to take charge of the 
united chutch of Queensbury, and Kingsbury. His wife was a Miss Bloodgood of 
Albany, N. Y. During his pastorate at Glen's Falls, he resided in the old Wing 
mansion, near Mr. Dix's residence on Ridge street about half a mile north of 
the Corners. He was at this time about thirty years of age, and had an inter- 
esting family of three or four children. From such traditionary accounts and 
recollections as still exist in the memory of the few survivors among us who knew 
him, it is stated that he was a man of medium stature, winning address, 
strong personal magnetism ; fervent and impressive in the pulpit ; cheerful, frank, 
and genial in his social intercourse. He is supposed to have removed from here 
in October, 1811, for in Prime's History of Long Island, it is recorded that he was 
installed pastor of the church at Newtown, on the 31st of October, 1811. He re- 
mained in the niini.stry at the place last named until the time of his death, which 
occurred on the 4th of March, 1818. 



THE CHURCHES. 213 

with them as already stated, were of the most affectionate, and 
endearing character, and his departure was long looked upon 
with deep regret. 

For nearly ten years next ensuing, the pulpit remained vacant, 
with the exception of two brief supplies ; the church depending 
for its few services, upon the pastors of neighboring churches 
for such occasional help as might be looked for from such 
sources. It appears from the records that the Rev. R. Sears, in 
1813,^ and the Rev. D. O. Griswold in 1820, each supplied the 
pulpit for a brief period ; while the Rev. Jonas Coe of Troy, and 
the Rev. Samuel Blatchford, D.D., of Lansingburgh, officiated 
here during that interval on several occasions, at which times 
fresh accessions of members are noted on the session's minutes, 
together with the frequent administration of the rite of baptism. 
Among the names of those occasionally conducting the services, 
and presiding at session meetings are those of the Rev. Lebbeus 
Armstrong, and Rev. Ethan Smith. 

Early in the year 1821, a call was jointly made by the churches 
at Glen's Falls, and Sandy Hill, to the Rev. Ravaud K. Rodgers, (a) 
of New York, at a salary of five hundred dollars per annum 
which was accepted. He reached here in March, and his ordi- 
nation took place in the church at Glen's Falls. The following 
paragraph from the church minutes, commemorates the event. 

> During this temporary supply, a bell was purchased for the church, Avliich of 
course was quite an event for the little hamlet of 40 or 50 houses. For the next 
seventeen years this was the only church bell in the village. — Vide Fennel's His- 
torical Sketch, p. 21. 

(a) Ravaud K. Rodgers was born in the city of New York, Nov. 3d, 1796. His 
preparatory studies were pursued in New York. In the month of November, 
1813, he joined the junior class of the Princeton College, N. J.,, graduated in 1815 ; 
in November of the same year, commenced the study of theology at Princeton, at- 
tending the three years' course of lectures at that place. He was licensed to preach 
by the Presbytery of New York in April, 1818, continuing at the seminary until 
the following autumn, when he was sent out by the Board of Missions of the Pres- 
byterian church, to Indiana, which was then on the outmost frontier of civilization. 
During that missionary tour of six months he traveled over two thousand miles 
(mostly on horseback) and preached about one hundred times. The ensuing fall 
he was dispatched by the committee of Missions to the northern part of the state 
of New York. It was on his return from this tour in the early part of 1820, that 
he was met at Sandy Hill with an invitation to accept the charge of the associ- 
ated church of Kingsbury and Queensbury. He was married on the 10th of Oc- 
tober, 1821, to Miss Caroline W. Thomas, daughter of John Thomas, Esq., of 
Sandy Hill, N. Y. In the month of January, 1830, he received a call from the 
Presbyterian church at Bound Brook, N. J., which was accepted, and that relation 
has uninteruptedly existed to the present time. At what time or from what source 
he received the degree of doctor of divinity, I have not learned. 



214 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURT. 

" On Wednesday, the fourteenth day of March, 1821, Ravaud 
K. Rodgers was ordained to the work of the gospel ministry, 
and installed pastor of the united church of Kingsbury and 
Queensbury. 

The Rev. Jonas Coe, D.D., of Troy, preached the sermon from 
Second Timothy, fourth chapter, first, and second verses. The 
Rev. Samuel Tomb of Salem, presided and made the consecrat- 
ing prayer. The Rev. Nathaniel S. Prime gave the charge to 
the pastor, and the Rev. Ethan Smith of Hebron addressed the 
people. On this occasion a large congregation attended, and 
the exercises throughout were solemn and interesting." 

A steady growth marked the prosperity of the church, and 
the zeal and efficiency of its minister, during all the earlier 
years of his pastorate. The year 1824 was especially memorable 
for the number added to its communion. In a semi-centennial ^ 
discourse delivered in 1868, Dr. Rodgers thus refers to this 
period in his ministry. " My pastorate in my first charge, was 
for the most part a pleasant one. Friendships were formed 
which nothing but death could dissolve. We had some seasons 
of delightful refreshing from the presence of the Lord. I can 
never forget one of commanding interest, when nearly one hun- 
dred persons came out from the world, and took the vows of 
God upon them. It was a sabbath long to be remembered." 

" By an order of the Presbytery of Troy, the United Presby- 
terian church of Kingsbury and Queensbury, was, in the month 
of August 1827, divided, so that that part of the church within 
the town of Queensbury, should thereafter be known by the 
name of the Presbyterian church of Glen's Falls." ^ 

Up to this time, nothing had transpired to mar the harmony 
and prosperity of the church. From a membership of thirty or 
thirty-five it had steadily increased to an aggregate of over one 
hundred and fifty. This large growth evidently contained some 
germs of corruption. The year " 1828 seems to have been 
largely devoted to discipline. The regular communion for 
April, 1820, was postponed by resolution of the session, on ac- 
count of the unchristian state of things in the church."^ 

1 Dating from liis licensure. This sermon was preached before his congregation 
at Bound Brook, New Jersey, April 26th, 1868, and was published in pamphlet 
form the same year. 

' Copied verbatim from the session's records. 

' Rev. A. J. Fennel's Hutoridal Sketch, p. 21. 



THE CHURCHES. 215 

• During the same month,^ and at his own request, the relations 
of the Rev. Mr. Rodgers with the church at Glen's Falls were 
discontinued. During the interregnum which intervened before 
the employment of another minister, Mr. John Folsom supplied 
to some extent the deficiency in the services, and at the request 
of the session frequently presided at its deliberations. Mr. 
Folsom, who had then been recently licensed to preach, had, 
from its foundation, been a ruling elder in the church, and a 
man of consideration, and influence in community, (a) 

Arnong the ministers, who occasionally supplied the pulpit, 
or acted as moderator in the session, as appears by its record, 
we find the names of the Rev. Messrs. John Savage, John Ken- 
nedy, Amos Savage jr., Ezra D. Kinney, Reuben Smith, Caleb 
B. Tracy, and Washington Roosevelt. 

For. six months, dating from the twenty-second of August, 
1860, the Rev. Edwin Hall, (6) (now Doctor of Divinity, and Prof. 

' Twenty-eiglitli of April, 1828. His pastoral relations with the church at 
Sandy Hill continued until February, 1830. 

(a) Mr. John Folsom removed to this place from Albany early in the century, and 
took an active interest in the erection of the new church. He had been a ruling 
elder of the church in Albany, and to his influence in great degree is due the fact 
that this society assumed the Presbyterian, rather than the Congregational form of 
government. Mr. Folsom was a man of considerable means, holding at one time 
a large interest in the toll-bridge across the river. He resided on the south side 
of the river, in the house (which he built) so long known as the Rice mansion. 
According to a very brief obituary notice, published in Olen's Falls Spectator, Aug. 
17th, 1839, he died " on the 4th inst." 83 years of age. For many years he was in 
the habit of performing missionary work in his neighborhood. The fact that he 
had been licensed as a preacher is mentioned in the session's records under the 
date of 2d December, 1831. During a long career of usefulness, he commanded 
a large measure of the respect and confidence of the community in which he lived. 

(b) In a communication to the author. Dr. Hall states that this was his first ex- 
perience in the ministry, and for the time being, he was the only Presbyterian 
minister in Warren county. He had long endured feeble health, hawng, four 
years previously, been given up to die of consumption. He found the work here 
too hard for him, and, after trying it awhile, had to give up, and return to his 
former vocation of teaching. The following year he went to Norwalk, Conn., 
where he remained pastor of the 1st church until 1855, when he received the call 
to his present position. He relates the following interesting reminiscence of his 
ministry here. 

" While I was there, some of my personal friends. Rev. Amos Savage, Rev. 
Alva Day, and Rev. E. D. Kinney, came and helped me hold a protracted meeting. 
At the close of it, Mr. Savage and myself started for Chester, to see what we could 
do there. We stopped at Mr. Baldwin's (Judge Seth C), in Caldwell to inquire 
the way, and Mrs. Baldwin inquired with much earnestness if we were not -going 
to do something there ? We told her that we had been advised that it would do 
no good to stop at Caldwell, the Methodists had tried it and been driven oflT. At 
Mrs. Baldwin's solicitation we stopped, visited every house, and I preached to them 



216 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

of Theology in the Auburn University), supplied the pulpits at 
Glen's Falls, and Sandy Hill, besides preaching occasionally in 
the Methodist church at Fort Edward. In reply to interroga- 
tions respecting his ministry here, Dr. Hall states as follows. 

" At that time, the church edifice at Glen's Falls was so di- 
lapidated that no meeting could be held in it. "We met in the 
lecture room built by Mr. Folsom, near Mr. Goodrich's. The 
meetings became too large for it, and Capt. Berry repaired the 
church, and had his pay at the first sale of pews. Every pew 
was taken." 

The following item taken from The Warren Messenger, of 
Saturday, January 1st, 1831, refers to the same subject. "As 
an evidence of the increasing prosperity and improvement in 
this village, we would notice, that during the latter part of 
summer, and this fall, the Presbyterian church in this place has 
undergone a thorough repair, and a new and excellent bell has 
been obtained for the church, and put up for use. Before the 
repairs were made, more than three-fourths of the pews remained 
on the hands of the corporation, and were unsold. A few days 
ago, the pews were put up for sale at auction, and sold to good 
advantage. There were not pews enough to supply the demand. 

" Sunday before last the Rev. Warren Farlin preached, for the 
first time after the sale of the pews, an able discourse. 

" The church was well filled. At least three hundred persons 
attended. 

" The board of trustees of the temporalities of the church is now 
full, and is composed of Messrs. Buell, Berry, Curtenius, Esta- 
brook, Benedict, and Van Pelt. Too much credit cannot be 
given to Capt. Berry (one of the board) for his active exertions 
in making advances to repair the church. 

" Th« Methodist church erected last summer, is a fine sub- 
stantial stone building. The pastors of both congregations, 
(Kev. Mr. Hall of the Presbyterian, and the llev. Mr. Seny of 
the Methodist church), are both gentlemen of superior talents 
and' education, and deserve the support of the community in 
which they live." 

in the Court House tliat evening. The revival began immediately. We had an 
appointment at Chester, and sent back for Mr. Kinney to come to Caldwell. He 
did 80, and after they had left, I went up often to Caldwell and preached. As the 
result, Mr. lavage and myself organized the first church in Caldwell. Mrs. Bald- 
win had previously kept up a sabbath school for three years, which had doubtless 
prepared the way for the work that followed." 




V 



%^!)yA.H.Bita:i^" 



^o^/y/i^'^^^^^^ ^- .yr^^^-ryrrT^T^ 



THE CHURCHES. 217 

From the date of Mr. Hall's departure, the church remained 
destitute of a stated supply, until the arrival of the Rev. Ephraim 
H. ]^ewton,(a) in the fall of 1832, in response to a call which had 
been extended to him in September of that year. His name 
first appears as moderator of the session on the 5th of October. 
He was installed on the 28th of February, 1833, at which time, 
the Rev. John Whiton, of Salem, presided as moderator ; Rev. 
Mr. Fleming of Whitehall, made the introductory prayer; 
Rev. Nathan S. S. Bemau, of Troy, preached the sermon; the 
Rev. Mark Tucker, of Troy, gave the charge to the pastor; and 
the Rev. Reuben Smith, of Waterford, the charge to the con- 
gregation; the concluding prayer being made by the moderator. 

(a) Ephraim Holland Newton ^ was born in Newfane, Windham county, Vt., 
IStli June, 1787. His ancestors were of English stock, and being among the 
early colonists, settled in the eastern part of Massachusetts. His grandfather, 
Marshal Newton, was a lieutenant in Col. Williams's regiment in the old French 
war, and according to family tradition, took part in the skirmishes and battles 
occurring in the vicinity of Glen's Falls and Lake George, during that struggle. 
His father, Marshal Newton jr., served for seven years as a private in the Revolu- 
tionary war, and was a participant in the actions of Monmouth and Brandywine, 
and wintered at Valley Forge. He served during the war as blacksmith and 
armorer. At the cessation of hostilities, he removed with his newly married wife 
from his native place, Shrewsbury, Mass., to Newfane, Vt., where, in a log-house 
on Newfane hill, the subject of this sketch was born. Though destined by his 
father to pursue his own avocation of a blacksmith, he early evinced a thirst and 
craving for knowledge beyond what could be obtained in the common schools 
adjacent to his mountain home ; and with that self reliance so characteristic of 
the New Elngland boy, he mastered both English and Latin grammar by the light 
of his forge fire, as he swayed the bellows pole up and down. 

At the age of eighteen, he taught a district school in Marlborough, Vt., where 
he afterwards officiated as its minister, studying meanwhile, and fitting for college, 
under the supervision of Rev. Alvan Tobey of Wilmington, Vt. He entered the 
freshman class of Middlebury college, 6th of October, 1806, and graduated 16th of 
August, 1810. During his junior year, he madg a profession of religion, and with 
about one hundred others, in April, 1810, he united with the Congregational 
church at Middlebury. Preparing for the ministry, he entered the Theological 
Seminary at Andover, Mass., in the month of November following, and completed 
his studies in September, 1813. He was licensed to preach by the Haverhill, 
Massachusetts, Association of Congregational ministers, on the 14th of April pre- 
ceding. In October of the same year, he commenced preaching at Marlborough, Vt., 
and on the 14th of March, 1814, he was ordained and installed pastor of the Con- 
gregational church of that place. In 1815, he married Huldah, eldest daughter 
of Maj. Gen. Timothy F. Cliipman of Shoreham, Vt.,and, for nearly twenty years 
was not only the minister but the guide and teacher of the people of the rude and 
poor mountain-town of Marlborough. His next pastoral labors were performed at 
Glen's Falls, as recorded in the text. During his pastorate here one hundred and 
seventy-two members were added to the church. In the same time, also, he esta- 

1 For the material of this sketch I am chiefly iudebted to his sou, John M. Newtou of Cincinnati, 
Ohio. 

28 



218 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

lu 1834 a powerful revival occurred, resulting in the addition 
of large numbers to the church. 

On the sixth of August, 1836, Mr, Newton tendered his resig- 
nation to the session, "in consequence of the embarrassed state 
of their funds in his support, and the prospect of his usefulness 
being thereby impaired." On the 25th of August he was dis- 
missed by the Presbytery from his pastoral charge. 

The names next occurring on the sessional records as tem- 
porarily officiating here, are the Kev. Amos C. Tuttle, Rev. 
Mr. Willoughby, and Rev. J. H. Noble, the latter supplying the 
pulpit for several months. In addition to these, the records 
bear the names of the Rev. Courtney Smith, and the Rev. P. 
F. Phelps. 

The name of the Rev. J. F. Scoville first appears as presiding 
over a meeting of the session on the 10th of August, 1837. For 
a period of five years he remained in charge of the church, 
during which time it was exceedingly prospered, two extensive 
revivals contributing largely to an increase of membership 



blislied a very prosperous select school, wliicli was conducted a portion of the time 
in the second story of a framed building a little south of Threehouse's hotel, and 
at another time over the old Post office adjoining the Long row. He removed 
from this place to Cambridge, Washington county, N. Y., where he was installed 
as pastor over the Presbyterian church in November, 1836. He continued at this 
latter place until August, 1843, during which period eighty-three persons were 
added to the church. Following this, he served five years as principal of the 
Cambridge Academy. His wife died in November, 1853. His tastes inclined 
him largely to the pursuit of the natural sciences, and he attained a wide and 
well earned repute as a mineralogist and geologist. There is little doubt but 
he would have found his mission more fully developed as a professor and teacher 
of thes(! recondite spheres of learning. Of crystals, mineralogical, lithological and 
fossiliferous specimens, he had a highly interesting and valuable collection, num- 
bering upwards of ten thousand, which he afterwards presented to the seminary 
at Andover, and for which a building was expressly erected. He received the 
degree of Doctor of Divinity from the college at Middlebury, and in turn, at the 
close of his life, presented that institution with his library numbering about one 
thousand volumes. In 1860, he returned to his old homo at Marlborough, Vt., and 
finding that place very much run down and its church destitute of a minister 
he resolved to renew his pastoral relations, and with all the zeal and ardor of 
youth threw liimself into the work. Two years later, during the fierce struggle 
of the rebellion, he was chosen without liis knowledge to the legishiture, and in 
view of the urgent necessity of having true and patriotic men in power he finally 
accepted the trust, and discharged its duties with fidelity. In 1863-4 he was 
acting as pastor at Wilmington, Vt. He died, after his return from a visit to his 
children and friends at the west, at the residence of his sonin-law, John M. Ste- 
venson, of Cambridge, N. Y., on the 6th of October, 1864. It could be said of 
him emphatically, that his ruling desire was to be of use to his fellow men ; a 
puritan in appearance, in practice and belief. 



THE CHURCHES. 219 

during his ministry. It was during this pastorate that the di- 
vision occurred in the Presbyterian church which for a long 
serle*5 of years rent it asunder into two bodies known as the old 
and new schools. This church at first strove to be neutral ' but 
finally identified itself with the new school branch. 

On the 12th of October, 1841, the meeting of Synod was held 
with this society, an occasion made memorable by the eloquence 
of Rev. E. N. Kirk, iT. S. S. Beman and other great lights of 
the church. 

The last record of Rev. J. F. Scoville's services in connection 
with the church occurred on the 27th of June, 1842.^ In the 
interregnum which followed, the names of Rev. Daniel C. Frost, 
and Abijah Crane appear as occasionally officiating. About 
this time, at the suggestion of the Rev. N. S. S. Beman of 
Troy, the Rev. John W. Ray, then but recently graduated from 
the Union Theological Seminary of New York city, visited the 
place and gave two or three. trial sermons, and as many lectures. 
These were followed by a formal call, which was forwarded to 
him at N'ew York city, and on the 27th of August following, 
he commenced his ministry of three years in the pulpit of this 
church during which time the congregation sustained the ser- 
vices with untiring zeal, and unfailing interest. At Mr. Ray's 
instance, and in a great degree through his instrumentality, a 
session room was erected, which for several years, in addition 
to its more specific uses, served the community as a lyceum 
and lecture room. It was a substantial, well finished, and com- 
modious structure of brick and was built on the east corner of 
the church lot. This building, together with the church, was 
utterly destroyed in the great fire of 1864. 

During Mr. Ray's pastorate, the membership of the church 
was increased from one hundred and sixty, to two hundred and 
fifty communicants. In addition to this, an increased attend- 
ance added to the material resources of the church, so soon to 



' " Resolved, That the circumstances of this church are such, that we do not feel 
willing to send a delegate to the meeting of Synod, on the 9th inst., to convene at 
Hudson, but intend to continue our neutrality for the present in relation to the 
division that has taken place in the Presbyterian church." — Records of Session, 
Oct. 8th, 1838. 

A delegate to attend the Presbytery at Lansingburgh, was chosen Aug. 26th, 
1839. 

^ The Rev. J. F. Scoville was subsequently degraded from the ministry for im- 
moral and unbecoming conduct. 



220 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

be required aud drawn upon in the erection of two costly 
churches. 

In consequence of ill health, resulting from an over taxed 
constitution, Mr. Ray, twice in the fall of 1845, tendered his 
resignation. This was finally accepted, accompanied by some 
complimentary resolutions testifying the regard and good will 
of the session. His farewell sermon, preached to a large and 
sympathizing congregation, was elaborated from the following 
significant text : " Therefore watch and remember, that by the 
space of three years, I ceased not to warn every one, night and 
day with tears. And now brethren, T commend you to God, 
and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, 
and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sancti- 
fied." {a) 

After a short interval, the vacancy occasioned by this removal 
was supplied for a period of nine months by the Rev. John Gray, 

(a) The Rev. John W. Ray was a native of Norwich, N. Y. He graduated at 
Amherst College, Mass., in 1839 ; and at the Union Theological Seminary, in New 
York city, in 1842, where he took his junior and senior years ; his middle year 
having been taken at the Auburn Seminary. He was licensed April 8th, 1843, by 
the third Presbyiery of New York city. 

Soon afterward he visited the city of Troy, contemplating a missionary work in 
that vicinity ;■ but at the suggestion of Rev. Doctor Beman, he went up to Glen's 
Falls as a candidate for the vacant pulpit. 

When he preached his first sermon in the Old White, as the church was then 
called, he found a man awaiting him in the porch, who was once a member of his 
Sunday school class in Auburn State Prison. This man at once interested himself 
in Mr. Ray's settlement, olFering to contribute five dollars towards his salary ; and 
insisting with great earnestness that Mr. Ray " knew the Bible from one end to 
the other, and that he could tell everything that was in it." Returning to New 
York, he received a call to supply the first Presbj-'terian chiirch at New Bruns- 
wick, N. J., but previous to deciding, an invitation was received from this church, 
which, after due deliberation, was accepted. During the first winter of his engage- 
ment here, a revival occurred, by which about fifty members were added to the 
communion. 

After lea\nng Glen's Falls, Mr. Ray oflBciated at Avon Springs, and Perry. 
Here, becoming an Episcopalian in sentiment, he resigned his charge and ministry, 
and removed to the state of Missouri, where he was confirmed by Bishop Hawkes, 
and where he at first studied, and afterwards practiced law. 

Subsequently he removed to Illinois, where, for two years, he was occupied with 
the editorial management of a newspaper, Avhich was the first one in the whole 
country to projwse the name of the late lamented Lincoln for the presidency. 
During his first presidential term, Mr. Ray had charge for a while of a division 
in the department of Indian affairs at Washington. 

He was ordained a deacon in the Episcopal church, by Bishop Whitehouse at 
Chicago, 111., in 1865 ; and the same year received priest's orders "at the hands of 
the Rt. Rev. Samuel Allen McCoskry, of Michigan. For a number of years he 
has been the rector of St. Peter's church at Westfield, Chautauguay co., N. Y., 
where he now resides. 




«H? 



^ VTkY^'-^ 







THE CHURCHES. 221 

since deceased. There is nothing of record or any memorable 
events to commemorate his connection with this church. The 
last session over which he presided was held July 3d, 1846. 

In the month of October following, a call was extended to the 
present incumbent, the Rev. A. J. Fennel, («) who, very shortly 
afterward, entered upon the discharge of his duties, and who, 
for the long series of years which have since elapsed has re- 
tained, in an eminent degree, the respect, good will, and confi- 
dence of his church members, and congregation, a large pro- 
portion of whom, have been gathered into his fold, during his 
long pastorate. 

By special act of legislature in 1848, the name of the corpora- 
tion was changed, and the temporalities of the society were 
vested in The First Presbyterian Church of Glen's Falls. The 
same year, the Old White was torn down, and a handsome 
brick structure erected on its site. This work was placed in 
tlie hands of a very efiicient building committee, consisting of 
Messrs. Bethuel Peck, Albert N". Cheney, and George G. 
Hawley. The church was completed at a cost of about nine 
thousand dollars, and was dedicated in March, 1850, by Rev. 
Mr. Fennel, who selected as his theme on that occasion, " the 
true use of a Christian temple." This edifice was utterly de- 
stroyed in the great fire of May 31st, 1864. 

The present church structure was commenced the following 
year, and was completed in 1867. During this interval, the wor- 
ship of the congregation .was conducted in the Baptist church.' 
The first sermon preached in the new building was a historical 
discourse, delivered by the pastor on the afternoon of June 16th, 
1867, in which the rise, progress and present condition of the 
church were exemplified. In this discourse (afterwards pub- 

{a) Rev. Andrew Jackson Fennel was born in the town of Ira, Rutland Co., 
Vermont, on the 21st of June, 1815. A portion of his boyhood was passed at the 
village of Castleton, Vt. In the seminary at that place he received his preparatory 
education. His ministerial studies were pursued at the Theological Seminary in 
Auburn, N. Y., where he graduated in 1843. For three years following, he preached 
in the Congregational church at Groton, Tompkins co., N. Y. He was called to 
the pastorate of the Presbyterian church in Glen's Falls, in October, 1846. His 
long service in the ministry here, is sufficient evidence of his acceptability, and the 
high regard, and esteem in which he is held by his people. During his ministry 
he has been twice sent away by his people for the recovery of his health ; once to 
the island of Cuba, and once on a tour to the southern states. In 1843, he was 
married at Little Falls, Herkimer co., N. Y., to Priscilla A. Hackley, a descendant 
of the Wolcott and Griswold families of Connecticut. The fruit of this union has 
been five children, of whom three sons are now living. 



222 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

lished) he says : " Aud now behold a church and furniture cost- 
ing ah-eady $25,000, aud no debt. Great credit is due to our 
trustees, S. L. Goodman, Henry Crandell, Jerome Lapham, A. 
C. Tearse, Daniel Peck, for their wise and earnest efficiency in 
the enterprise, and their personal liberality." (a) 

Since then, a fine and powerful organ has been added to the 
church, at a cost of nearly three thousand dollars. The church 

(a) Henry M. P.vrsons. This account of the Presbyterian church, as well as 
the history of Glen's Falls, would be incomplete without some mention of the 
gifted and accomplished scholar, the eloquent, and impassioned orator, the grace- 
ful writer, whose name heads this article. He was the son of Elnathan Parsons, 
and was born at Glen's Falls, N. Y., 27th of July, 1813. He was baptized Sunday, 
the 13th of February, 1814, by the Rev. Samuel Blatchford, D.D., of Lansingburgh. 
He was admitted to membership, under the pastorate of the Rev. Ravaud K. 
Rodgers in his native place in August, 1825, thus, at the tender age of twelve, tak- 
ing upon himself the vows of allegiance and service to his Divine Master. He 
early exhibited a great aptitude for study, giving bright promise of the brilliant 
intellect, of which his maturer years, notwithstanding ill health and a frail, 
delicate constitution, gave some fruitage. In 1827 he attended the academy. East 
Hampton, L. I. The follo%ving year he entered the academy, then under the 
charge of N. S. Prime, D.D., at Cambridge, N. Y., where he went though a pre- 
paratory course of study to fit himself for college. In the winter of 1829, he 
taught school on Luzerne mountain, continuing his studies the ensuing season, 
under the supervision of William Hicks, a somewhat noted teacher, who then had 
charo-e of the old academy, of which some account is given elsewhere. 

In April, 1831, he entered the freshman class at Williams College, Williams- 
town, Mass., having for a room mate, a young man also fitting for the ministry, 
afterward the Rev. Theodore Sayre. In consequence of the growth and early 
development of that pulmonary trouble which eventuated in his death, he left 
college on account of ill health and spent the summer at the sea shore. The two 
succeeding years he spent in teaching at such intervals as his health would admit. 
In 1835 he went south, partly, and principally on account of his health, and taught 
at Augusta, Georgia. In the winter of 1836 he was rector of Appling Institute. 
In June, 1837, he was taken ill and forced to retire from his educational pursuits. 
In March following he returned home to the north where he remained chiefly at 
home, and on the sick list for the next two years. In July, 1839, he embarked on 
the Roanoke for a whaling voyage with a view to the improvement of his health, 
and was absent eleven months. He derived so much benefit from this trip, that 
in August, 1840, he set sail in the same vessel, but was left at the island of Fayal 
sick and returned home in November of the same year. During the weeks of 
his convalescence he published over the signature of The Wanderer, in the Olen's 
Falls Gazette, a series of very interesting articles, descriptive of his voyages and 
adventures. He engaged for a brief period in 1841 in mercantile pursuits in the 
city of New York. In 1842 and '3 he was assistant editor of the Christian Family 
Magazine. In 1845, he taught in Greenport, and in 1846 in Southampton, L. I. 
He studied theology with Dr. H. !N. Wilson. He was installed over the church 
in Moriches, October 8th, 1847. This pastoral relation was dissolved in June, 
1852. He was installed as pastor of the Warren Run church. Pa., October 13th, 
1852. His health again failing, he was obliged to give up his ministerial labors 
in 1854. He returned to Glen's Falls where he remained an invalid for the two 



i 



THE CHURCHES. 223 

was dedicated on the 19th of June, 1867, by the Rev. Dr. Hickok 
then president of Union College. The interior decoration of 
the building ia rich and costly, the pews being finished up with 
different colored wood work, the windows of stained glass with 
life sized delineations of the Savior; the wall and ceilings artist- 
ically ornamented with colored panel work; and in the tower 

following years. The winter of 1857 lie spent again at the south. The following 
autumn he located at Southampton, Long Island, where he remained until the 
time of his death, which occurred on the 10th of August, 1859. 

Notwithstanding his life long struggle with a frail constitution against continu- 
ally recurring attacks of sickness, his record reflects honor upon the place of his 
nativity. An easy, accomplished writer, a graceful, impassioned and fluent orator, 
a sincere, devout and exemplary Christian, his name will always be precious in 
the memory of the many who knew and loved him. 

The author assumes an author's privilege, in this connection to append the fol- 
lowing communication from George R. Howell, assistant librarian of the State 
Library at Albany, he having been a student under Mr. Parsons, and well in- 
formed, and competent to bear testimony to his ability and worth. 

Rev. Henry M. Parsons, while on a visit to his uncle residing at Southampton, 
L. I., was engaged to take charge of the academy at that place in the summer of 
1846 (or '7). While there he won the love and respect of his pupils and was held 
in high esteem by the whole community. Soon after the completion of the sum- 
mer term he studied theology with the Rev. Hugh N. Wilson, D.D., pastor of the 
Presbyterian church in Southampton, and was licensed to preach by the Presbytery 
of Long Island. He received a call to the Presbyterian church at Moriches on 
Long Island and having accepted it, at once was installed and began his labors. 
This church at that time was a feeble one, but soon after his installation Provi- 
dence blessed his labors with an abundant revival whereby many were added to 
the church. He labored here with entire acceptance to the people of his charge until 
his failing health compelled him to resign the work of the ministry. Although 
he had other calls to more extended and remunerative fields of labor, yet such 
was the attachment between pastor and people that they were all declined. He 
was a brilliant and polished orator, but self was never thrust forward at the ex- 
pense of his theme. Elocution, gesture and delivery were perfect, and his rare 
gracefulness never failed to win the hearts of his audience or his clear logical 
arguments their conviction. An oration delivered on a fourth of July at Sag 
Harbor is even yet remembered and spoken of by those who listened to it as one 
of the finest eflfbrts of oratory ever witnessed in that village. 

His early death, with so much promise of usefulness before him, h*as always 
been one of those mysteries of Divine Providence which baffle our comprehension 
in this life. 

About the year 1848 he married Miss Maria R. Brown, on her mother's side 

descended from one of the oldest and most respected families of Southampton. 

Her father was a native of New Jersey where the family resided, but died before 

the writer of this was old enough to know of these events personally. Mrs. Brown 

returned to her native place with her family and here they were educated. Mrs. 

Parsons was a lady of rare loveliness of character and possessed what the New 

Englauders caYlfaculti/, or tact, to an eminent degree. They had but one child, 

a son who was drowned while bathing in Southampton about the year 1858. 

Geo. R. Howell. 
State Library, Albany, April 1st, 1874. 



224 



HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 



are placed a heavy, fine toned bell, and a town clock of superior 
workmanship. The entire cost of the church, with its fixtures 
and furniture complete, is estimated at upwards of thirty thou- 
sand dollars. 

The present roll of membership embraces the names of be- 
tween two hundred and fifty and three hundred communicants. 
Appended hereto, may be found a list of the ruling elders, and 
trustees, from the first organization of the church, to the pre- 
sent time. 

Muling Elders. 

Elected. 

1834. Albert Blakesly, 

1838. Sheldon Benedict, 

" Linus B. Barnes, 

" Miron Osborn, 



Elected. 

1808. John Folsom, 

Died, 1839. 
" John Moss jr., 

Dismissed, 1822. 

1809. Jonathan Harris, 
" Matthew Scott, 

" Joseph Caldwell, 
1819. Solomon P. Goodrich, 
Died, 1831. 
" Samuel Cranston, 
Dismissed, 1882. 
1827. Charles &. Jones, 
Dismissed, 1829, 
" Gridley H. Packard, 
Dismissed, 1830. 

1830. Levi Hamilton, 

Dismissed, 1833. 
" Samuel S. Tallmadge, 
Dismissed, 1848. 

1831. Sidney Berry, (o) 

Died, 1839, 
" - Elias Hawley, 

Dismissed, 1833. 



Died, 1850. 
1851. Orville Cronkhite, 

" John J. Miller, 
1855. Henry Wing, 

" William T. Norris, 

Fell in action 2d Bull Run, 
1862. 
1857. Linus B. Barnes, 

" Orville Cronkhite, 

" Sheldon Benedict, 
1870, Linus B. Barnes, 

" Sheldon Benedict, 

" Henry Wing, 

" John J. Miller, 

" William Hotchkiss, 

" Frederic A. Johnson jr., 

" Joseph Fowler. 



(a) Sidney Berry was the youngest son of a numerous family, the children of 
Sidney Berry, of Nortlmmberlaud, .Saratoga county, N. Y. The latter was the 
neighbor and intimate friend of the late Dr. Billy J. Clark, and was one of the 
signers of the first temperance pledge of which we have record. 

The intellectual advantages of the younger Berry were limited ; his only edu- 
cation being that derived from a country district school, and the hard attrition of 
a farm life, which, while it may help to knock the nonsense out of a young man 
certainly did in those days very little towards a young man's intellectual culture 
or polish. 

He commenced business for himself as soon as he was of age, following for a 
number of years, the somewhat diverse pursuits of farming and lumbering, which 



THE CHURCHES. 



225 



Trustees. 



Elected 


I. 


Elected. 


1807. 


William Robards, 


1815. 


u 


John A. Ferriss, 


(( 


(( 


Daniel Peck, 


1816. 


u 


William Hay, 


(( 


u 


John Folsom, 


(( 


u 


Mieajah Pettit, 


1817. 


1811. 


Uzziel Stevens, 


a 


u 


William Robards, 


1818. 


u 


John Folsom, 


u 


(( 


John Thomas, 


il 


1( 


Edmund Peck, 


1820. 


l( 


William Wing, 


(( 


1812. 


John A. Ferriss, 


(( 


(( 


Uzziel Stevens, 


(( 


1813. 


John Thomas, 


1821. 


u 


John Folsom, 


u 


1814. 


Asahel Clark, 


1822. 


(( 


Elnathan Parsons, 


(( 



Stephen Clark, 
John A. Ferriss, 
Thomas Colton, 
John Folsom, 
John Thomas, 
Solomon P. Groodrich, 
Hezekiah Leavens, 
Elias Hawley, 
John A. Ferriss, 
Royal Leavens, 
J. Lyman Arms, 
Solomon P. Goodrich. 
John Thomas, 
B. F. Butler, 
Horatio Buell, 
Elias Hawley, 
J. Lyman Arms, 
Solomon P. Groodrich, 



were continued until about the year 1834, in the vicinity of his early home. He 
then abandoned his farm pursuits, and removed to Glen's Falls, where he bought 
of Mr. Alpheus Hawley, the residence which then had been but recently built by 
a Mr. Jonathan Beach, on the old Gen. Warren Ferriss lot. This, he greatly im- 
proved and embellished, and during the remainder of his life it continued to be 
the home of himself and family. 

Through all the later years of his life he was known as Captain Berry, having 
in his early manhood been the commandant of a company of light horse, which 
was raised in the upper districts of Saratoga county. 

In 1825 he became the subject of conversion in a religious revival which occurred 
in his neighborhood, and joined the Presbyterian church, of which religious body 
he was ever afterward a zealous and earnest member, renewing his fealty on his 
removal to Glen's Falls, and becoming in turn, as will be seen by the record, a 
trustee and elder of the church whose history is here recorded. It is stated on 
good authority that he offered, (and it is believed that those most interested were 
not slow in availing themselves of the opportunity), to pay as long as he lived, one- 
fifth of all the expenses of the church, adding in his quaint way, that if they 
worked it right, they might get a little more, which their necessities often con- 
strained them to do. 

He married Eliza, daughter of John Folsom, a sketch of whose hfe is given 
herewith. By her he had three children, all daughters, the eldest of whom mar- 
ried a Presbyterian minister by the name of Frost, whom together with an im- 
married sister named Frances, are understood to be living. The youngest daughter 
Alida, who married a lawyer by the name of Melancthon W. Perine, is now dead. 

After removing to Glen's Falls, Capt. Berry was for a number of years largely 
engaged in getting out spars, round, and square timber from the West mountain 
and Luzerne. His lumber operations were from this time forth gradually ex- 
29 



226 



HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 



Elected. 

1823. John Thomas, 

" Luther Johnson, 
" Bogardus Piersons, 
" Samuel Cook, 

1824. Elias Hawley, 

" Alpheus Hawley, 

1825. Solomon P. Goodrich, 
" Elnathan Parsons, 

1826. Bogardus Piersons, 
" Roswell Weston, 

1827. Charles G. Jones, 
" Sidney Berry, 

1828. Horatio Buell, 
" Moody Ames, 

1829. Sidney Berry, 
" Lewis Numan, 

" Samuel Estabrook, 

1830. John L. Curtenius, 
" Sheldon Benedict, 



Elected. 

1830. John Van Pelt, 

1831. Lewis Numan, 
" Sidney Berry, 

1832. Moody Ames, 

" Jonathan W. Freeman, 

" Fletcher Ransom, 

1834. Sidney Berry, 

" Lewis Numan, 

" Sheldon Benedict, 

" George G. Hawley, 

1825. Jonathan W. Freeman, 

" Alexander Folsom, 

1836. Lewis Numan, 

" Sheldon Benedict, 

1837. Sidney Berry. 

" George G. Hawley, 
" Billy J Clark, 

1838. Billy J. Clark, 

" Jonathan W. Freeman, 



panded, great success attending his enterprises and ventures. He built and owned 
mills in Westport, and the vicinity of Paradox lake in Essex county, the lumber 
there manufactured finding its way to market via Lake Champlain, and the 
Northern canal, At the time of his death these operations were moving along on 
the flood tide of successful experiment. His estate, at the time of his decease, and 
probably not very economically managed at that, was inventoried and settled at up- 
wards of fifty thousand dollars, which, for those days was considered a large 
fortune. 

Mr. Berry was a man of great energy, probity and public spirit. He was an 
active and influential politician of the whig school, but never a place seeker or 
aspirant for political honors. He was a man of infinite humor and jest, and many 
anecdotes are still related of him, w'hicli establish his great shrewdness and 
originalty. 

In 1836, he commenced improving his large village property, built a culvert in 
the ravine down the long hill, through which, up to within a very recent period, 
the sewerage of the village found its outlet ; graded down the hill opposite his 
residence, and opened up Berry street, which still retains his name, and erected en- 
tirely at his own expense a brick building for a young ladies' seminary, which, for a 
number of years was very successful, and had a wide spread reputation. This 
building is now the property of school district No. 19. His remains were at first 
buried in the old grave yard on West street. Some two or three years ago they 
were exhumed and redeposited in the new cemetery. This place (as is to be hoped) 
of final sepulture, is marked by a plain marble shaft on which is inscribed the 
following unpretentious legend. 

Sidney Berry, 

Born September 12, 1783, 

Died May 5, 1839. 



THE CHURCHES. 



227 



Elected 




Elected. 


1839. 


Lewis Numan, 


1857. 


« 


Abraham Wing, 


u 


(1 


George Cronkhite, 


1858. 


1840. 


George G. Hawley, 


1859. 


(( 


Linus B. Barnes, 


(( 


1841. 


Billy J. Clark, 


1860. 


(( 


George Sanford, 


(C 


1842. 


Lewis Numan, 


1861. 


(( 


George Cronkhite, 


1862. 


1843. 


George G. Hawley, 




(( 


Linus B. Barnes, 




1844. 


Halsey R. Wing, 


(( 


(( 


Alfred C. Farlin, 


(( 


1845. 


Stevens Carpenter, 


1863. 


(( 


Albert N. Cheney, 


a 


1846. 


Ira A. Paddock, 


1864. 


u 


Orville Cronkhite, 


1865. 


1847. 


Linus B. Barnes, 




(( 


Thomas J. Strong, 




1848. 


James C. Clark, 


(( 


1,1 


Benjamin F. Shattuck. 


(( 


Number of Trustees reduced to Jive. 


1866. 


1849. 


Frederic A. Johnson, 


li 


1850. 


Charles Rockwell, 


1867. 


(( 


Linus B. Barnes, 


1868. 


1851. 


George Cronkhite, 


(( 


u 


George G. Hawley, 


1869. 


(( 


Halsey E,. Wing, 


(( 


1852. 


George Cronkhite, 


1870. 


a 


Frederic A. Johnson, 


1871. 


1853. 


Linus B. Barnes, 


(( 


1854. 


Halsey R. Wing, 


(( 


(( 


George G. Hawley, 




1855. 


George Clendon jr., 




u 


Fred A. Johnson jr., 


1872. 


1856. 


Linus B. Barnes, 


(( 


(( 


Fred A. Johnson, 


(( 



Halsey R. Wing, 

George G. Hawley, 

George Clendon jr., 

Linus B. Barnes, 

Fred A. Johnson jr., 

Halsey R. Wing, 

George G. Hawley, 

George Clendon jr., 

Lewis L. Goodman, 

vice Geo. Clendon jr., gone 
to the war. 

Linus B. Barnes, 

Fred A. Johnson jr., 

Ezra Benedict, 

Archibald C Tearse, 

Stephen L. Goodman, 

Daniel Peck, 

vice Ezra Benedict re- 
moved from the place. 

Henry Crandell, 

Jerome Lapham, 

A. C. Tearse, 

Daniel Peck, 

Stephen L. Goodman, 

Henry Crandell, 

James A. Freligh, 

A. C. Tearse, 

Thos. S. Cooledge, 

Stephen L. Goodman, 

Henry Crandell, 

James A. Freligh, 

Martin Coffin, 

vice A. C. Tearse, re- 
moved from the place. 

Martin Coffin, 

M. L. Wilmarth, 

Thomas S. Cooledge. 



228 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 



UNION CHURCH OF EAST LAKE GEORGE. 

Through the instrumentality of Mr. C. L. North, of Brooklyn, 
and the aid and encouragement of several ladies and gentle- 
men, who were passing the heated term, at two or three places 
of summer resort in that vicinity, a Sunday school was organized 
in one of the school houses at East Lake George, in the summer 
of 1864. 

The following year, it was renewed with great vigor ; and 
another school in the vicinity was revived. Both were prospered 
to an unexpected degree, and, as opportunity presented, occa- 
sional services were held, sometimes under the shade of a tree, 
and sometimes in school houses, in this vicinity. This was the 
inception of an earnest movement toward the establishment of 
permanent religious services in this hitherto neglected neigh- 
borhood. 

A subscription paper was circulated (Mr. North contributing 
largely thereto, and Mr. Mattison giving the land), and a hand- 
some amount was raised for the purpose of building a church, 
the corner stone of which was laid with fitting services on the 
5th of November, 1867. The building was completed and ded- 
icated the following season, and a society of forty members 
organized by the Rev. W. B. Lee, of Brooklyn, who from the 
first has been one of the chief promoters of the enterprise. 

This little church was at first committed to the pastoral charge 
of the Rev. James Lamb, now of Caldwell at the head of Lake 
George. The present incumbent is the Rev. Isaac See. A very 
pleasant and attractive feature connected with this organization 
is an anniversary pic-nic and festival held late in the summer, 
which is designed to gather all the children of the neighbor- 
hood, with visiting Sunday schools, for a season of recreation, 
and enjoyment. Some of these gatherings have been attended 
by over five thousand people. A handsome and commodious 
parsonage, which appears at the left of the church in the cut, 
has been erected, and a neat, substantial fence surrounds the 
entire enclosure. 



'April, 1874. Since the above was compiled, a chanfje has again been made in 
the supply of the pulpit, and a pleasant school house added to the belongings of 
this church. 



\ , ^jr\i . ,. is5 «i,'. :, •^..jwiihlniinii.L.i. .illML.I 




^"i-£t!:.'-iii:i 



228 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OP QUEENSBURT 



4 



d 



UNION rnrT^cH of east lake george. 

Through lr.» ,,.., -■•.^ity of Mr. C. L. North, of Brooklyn, 
and the ^id and en sent of several ladies and gentle- 
men, who were leated. term, at two or three places 
of summer r- '-ity, a Sunday school was organized 
in one of th d East Lake George, in the summer 

Ofl' 

'1 - renewed with great vigor; and 

An< . was revived. Both were prospered 

f, and, as o occa- 

•.oUi, sometimes .,>.••. .i.^. ,,..... ^ i a tree, 
hool houses, in this vicinity. This waw the 
'11 oi an earnest movement toward the i sent of 

j,K;iinuaent religion^ services in this hithorU) ucj^,. .^^i neigh- 
borhood. 

A subscription paper wm- Mr. TJ^Torth contributing 

largely thereto, and Mr. N- .i. • • -. „ , ..jg the land), luui a hand- 
some amount was rai.s<.'d i /r the purpose of building a church, 
the corner stone of winch was laid with fitting services on the 
5th of November, 1867. The building was completed and ded- 
icated the following season, and a society of forty members 
organized by the Rev. W. B. Lee, of Brooklyn, who from the 
first has been one of the chief promoters of the enterprise. 

This little church was at first committed to the pastoral charge 
of the Rev. James Lamb, now of Caldwell at the head of Lake 
George. The present incumbent is the Rev. Isaac See. Avery 
pleasant and attractive feature connected with thia on^aiuzation 
is an anniversary pic-nic and festival li 

whit^h is ,]-:•' ..♦v..„ ..t; <'.. ,,, 

hood, wii.. ..lion, 

and enjoyment. tSome oi these g.i oeen attended 

by over five thousand people. A ii.n. .»■.•;..<. aiid commodious 
parsonage, which appears at the loft of the church iu the cut, 
has been erected, and a neat, substantial fence surrounds the 
entire enclosure. 



• Mivo was coinpiltni, a change has again been made in 
! a ]il<MUiant Hchool house added to the belongings of 
tiiinchoreU. 




^'^l^iHlil^^I^^PP'ti 



THE CHURCHES. 229 



METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

That form of Christianity known as Methodism was first in- 
cidentally introduced into the northern portion of Warren 
county, which, for a number of years went by the name of 
Thurman's patent, as early as 1796, by two lay preachers, 
zealous pioneers for the truth in Christ, who explored this 
sparsely settled region, and unfurled the banner of the gospel 
amid its wide stretching forests. These were Richard Jacobs, 
and Henry Ryan. Mr. Jacobs was drowned the same year on 
his return from Elizabeth town, Essex county, while endeavor- 
ing to ford the swollen current of the east branch of the Hudson 
near the outlet of Schroon lake. Mr. Ryan, who was after- 
wards known as one of the most active and successful itinerants 
of this wide extended circuit, was discovered to be a Methodist 
by means of his pocket bible. » 

The Thurman patent (including the Gore in the town of 
Chester), was issued by the colonial authorities to John Thurman, 
about four days prior to the declaration of Independence, 1776. 
During the progress of the Revolutionary war, although taking 
no active part in hostilities, he sided in sentiment with the crown, 
and, as a natural consequence, when difficulties subsequently 
arose between him, and his tenants and lessees, the sympathies 
of the inhabitants were with the latter. Not willing to trust 
the validity of his title, or the dismemberment of his extensive 
property to the juries of the region, in the year 1800, Mr. Thur- 
man went quietly before the legislature, and procured the pass- 
age of an act legalizing his title. Appended to this act, were 
certain stipulations, that the land so granted should be disposed 
of to actual settlers at the rate of eighteen shillings per acre, 
with the privilege of five years to pay in ; and, if unpaid at the 
end of that time, the indebtedness then to be secured by bond 
and mortgage to run twenty-one years. ^ As a result of this 

' The substance of the above statement was communicated to the author by the 
late Hon. John R. Thurman, M. C, April 7th, 1851. A reference to the Calendar 
of Land Papers, does not corroborate the statement, nor does Sauthier's Map of 
1779, contain any mention of such a patent. The records in the department, would 
seem to show, that Thurman's locations were chiefly made witliin the limits of 
Hyde township, and Totten and Crossfield's purchase, and, that the first loca- 
tions were made in 1787. 



230 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBUEY. 

judicious policy,\the lands became settled rapidly, and were 
soon the most productive part of the estate. One or two of the 
mortgages still remain unsatisfied. This settlement, first called 
Elm Hill, was within the boundaries of the town of Queens- 
bury, and, has since been known by the names of Thurman- 
town, and Johnsburgh. Mr. Thurman, originally a merchant, 
was a shrewd,^ far seeing, energetic, and successful business 
man, and through his influence, and enterprise, many settlers 
were induced to acompany him, and take up leaseholds in the 
wilderness. The infant settlement presently received a fresh 
impulse and accession of strength, in the erection by Mr. Thur- 
man of a, grist mill, a saw mill, a razor factory and a cotton 
factory for the manufacture of prints. This is claimed to be 
the firat of the kind, introduced into the country. These es- 
tablishments were located on a small stream near itToble's 
corners, and it has been asserted were in successful operation in 
1790. At all events, a map, of which mention is made in the 
Calendar of Land Papers, bearing the date of 1792, speaks of the 
lots owned in Hyde township by the late John Thurman. 
Tradition states that he was gored to death by a bull. His 
death of course was a heavy blow to the prosperity of the settle- 
ment The property came into the possession of his son, also 
named John, and with the gradual addition of many minor 
branches of industry, and mechanic arts, the work of settlement 
still went slowly forward. 

The Rev. David Noble, who had long been a local preacher 
of influence and consideration, emigrated with his family from 
the north of Ireland, and lauded in New York, in 1795, where, 
for two or three years, he was associated with the management 
and ministrations of the John Street M. E. church. Having 
here formed the acquaintance of Mr. Thurman, he was per- 
suaded to visit his patent with a view to removal thither. At 
that time the roads north of Caldwell were little better than 
bridle paths, while none of the numerous large streams and 
rivers which had to be crossed on the route, had even the sem- 
blance of a bridge. In the year 1798, Mr. Noble leased of the 



1 It is related of him, that on one occasion on his return to New York, he filled 
his pocket with beech nuts, and exhibited them to his friends as a sample of the 
buckwheat raised on his patent, and a proof of the extraordinary fertility of the 
soil. Whether for this or some other cause now unknown, it is averred, that in 
thosi! days an exchange of these lands, acre for acre, for the rich alluvial flats at 
Watcrford, was refused. 



THE CHURCHES. 231' 

proprietor 400 acres of land at two and a a half dollars per acre, 
■upon which he, and his sons, soon made a clearing, and bnilt 
them up a log-house, which to them was a dwelling, a school 
house and church. Here, at this out-post of civilization, they 
were visited from time to time by those men of God, Elijah 
Hedding, Martin Rutter, Elijah Hibbard, Samuel Howe, David 
Brown, and others, and, with the numerous families of Nobles, 
Somervilles, and Armstrongs as a nucleus, a strong and flour- 
ishing church was built up, whose influences are still manifest 
to the present day. The services were held for a long period 
of years in private houses, and afterward in school houses, being- 
supplied as long as he lived by the Rev. David Noble, ^ and 
afterward by other leaders, who sprang up among them. This 
was the extreme wilderness limit, of what was then known a& 
the Ash Grove (since Cambridge), or six week's circuit. 

Here, as elsewhere in the work of evangelizing the world^ 
the operations of the Spirit and the progress of Divine truth,, 
were met with opposition, obloquy, and reproach. In reference 
to this, a writer in the Troy Conference Miscellany states as' 
follows. *' The persecution in Thurman's patent was truly 
grievous. Many young people that experienced religion were- 
turned out of doors by their parents. 

" Someof them were whipped cruelly; twoyoung women were- 
80 whipped by their father, that the blood ran down to their 
feet, and he then turned them out of doors, and they walked 
fifteen miles to a Methodist society. That father was a church 
member. 

" Two younger brothers having been converted, were often 
severely beaten for attending Methodist meetings. It astonished 
me that the father of ten children, eight of whom had ex- 
perienced religion, should drive six of them from tlie house, 
and whip these two boys for no other crime, in reality, than that 
of worshipping God with the Methodists. 

' Rev. David Noble, died July 10, 1807, at Arlington, Vt., -while on a visit to his 
daughter, the wife of Richard Empey. He left home at Elm Hill in Thurman on 
the 9th, and traveling on horseback reached the place of his destination on the 
afternoon of the following day. He immediately attended religious ser\'ices which 
were g^»ing forward in a school house near by. After the sermon, he gave an ex- 
hortation sat down, swooned away, and died. His remains were afterward removed 
from their humble resting place, to the burial ground at Ash Grove, The follow- 
ing lines were inscribed on his tombstone. 

" This man was faithful in his Master's cause ; 
Three minutes exchanged the pulpit for eternal joys." 



232 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

" That father did not whip religion nor Methodism out of his 
children, for some of their descendants are now among our 
wealthy, influential, and devoted members." 

About this time, the eccentric, and widely known Lorenzo 
Dow, and his admirer Timothy Dewey, were sent into this re- 
gion by the authorities of the church. Dow officiated in a school- 
house in the north part of the town, and in a barn at the east 
of the Oneida.^ 



' The following extracts from Lis diary will give a glimpse of liis labors and ex- 
periences in this region. 

The date of this narrative was in the spring of 1798. 

" From thence " (Skeinsborough," sic.), I visited Kingsborough and Queens- 
borough, where many were brought to a sense of themselves, among whom was 
Solomon Moon. 

" One evening, just as I had dismissed the assembly, I saw a man to whom my 
mind was impressed to go ; and before I was aware of it, I was breaking through 
the crowd ; and when I had got to him I said, ' are you willing I should ask you 
& few serious questions ?' to which he replied, yes ; ' do you believe,' (said I), ' there 
is a God f Said he, ' Yes.' Q. ' Do you believe there is a reality in 'religion ? 
A. ' I am uncertain ; but think we ought to do as we would be done by.' Q. ' Are 
you willing for some good advice ?' A. ' Yes.' Q. ' Supposing I shall give you 
some that you can find no fault with tJie tendency of it ; are you willing, and will 
you try to follow it for four weeks ?' A. ' Yes, if it is no unreasonable request.' 

I then desired him not to believe what authors, ministers or people said, because 
they said so ; but to search the scriptures to seek for light and instruction there ; 
to read but a little at a time, and read it often, striving to take the sense of it. 

2dly, Not to stumble over the unexemplary walk of professors of religion ; 
nor the contradiction of ministers' sermons ; but to forsake, not what other people 
thought was wrong, but what he himself thought to be wrong ; and then to take 
his leisure time, and go where none would see him but God, twice or thrice a day, 
and upon his knees to beseech the Almighty to give him an evidence within, that 
there was a heaven and a hell, and a reality in religion, and the necessity of en- 
joying it in order to be happy ; and then, said I, I do not believe the time will 
expire before you will find an alteration in your mind, and that for the better. 
Q. ' Is the advice good or bad V A. 'I have no fault to find ; the natural tendency 
of it is to good, if followed.' 

" I then said, ' You promised, if the advice was good, and you had no fault to find 
with it, that you would follow it four weeks ; and now I call God to witness your 
promise,' so left. 

" He went away, and began to meditate how he was taken in the promise before 
he was aware of it, and for forty -eight hours neglected it, when his conscience con- 
•demned him, and for the ease of his mind was necessitated to go and pray. 

" From hence I went to Therman's patent, and held several meetings, not in vain, 
and riding across the branches of Hudson river, I called the inhabitants together, 
«nd we had a refreshing season from the presence of the Lord. In eternity, I be- 
lieve, some will be thankful for tliat day." 

(The (luarlerly meeting following the foregoing record, was held at Pittstown, 
N. Y., on the 20th of June succoedinj;). 

" Here, after 8. Hutchinson had finished his sermon, /. Mitchell began to exhort, 
■when there commenced a trembling iimong the wicked ; one, and a second, and a 



THE CHURCHES. 233 

Traditions are yet extant of the power of his sermons, and of 
the numbers awakened, and converted by his preaching. Soon 
after his coming, the Methodist society was organized at the 
Ridge, a settlement then containing more dwellings, and in- 
habitants than the village of Glen's Falls. 

As previously stated, Queensbury was at this distant period 
of time included within the boundaries of what was then called 
Ashgrove circuit, so named from the locality where Methodism 
was first planted by Philip Embury, the renowned pioneer of the 
faith, previous to the Revolutionary war. 

Having previously organized the first society of the denomi- 
nation in New York, about the year 1770 he removed to the 
town of Cambridge, and in that portion of the township known 
in the local annals as Ashgrove, within the present limits of 
the town of White Creek established a society and continued as 

third fell from their seats, and the cry for mercy became general ; and many of 
the backsliding professors were cut to the quick ; and I think for eleven hours there 
was no cessation of the loud cries ; no business of a temporal nature could be done 
at this quarterly meeting conference. 

" The next day, Soloman Moon, who had come more than forty miles, stood up 
in the love-feast and declared how he was caught in a promise, and to ease his 
mind, was necessitated to fulfil, and within three days found the reality of what 
he had doubted ; and besought others not to be afraid of prornising to serve God ; 
for, said he, ' I bless the day that I ever saw the face of Brother Dow.' It was 
curiosity, as he testified, which first induced him to come out and hear him that 
was called ' the crazy man. ' " 

July 3d, 1805. Dow visited these scenes of his former labors. He says, " by 
South Bay, Fort Ann, Glen's Falls, and staid at an inn ; but judging from circum- 
stances that it was necessary to watch my horse, I slept none that night." Not 
very complimentary to the tavern or the neighborhood ! 

About the j'ear 1783, two brothers named John, and Robert Moon, emigrated to 
this town from Rhode Island. Of the former but little is known. His sio-nature 
appended herewith was found among the old Wing Manuscripts, and is of im- 
doubted anthenticity. 




^'^z^crzrn 



Robert Moon settled on the Outlet, where he erected a saw-mill and the first 
grist mill in use in the town after the Revolutionary war. Before tliis was built 
the inhabitants were obliged to go to Stillwater or Argyle for their flour and 
meal. 

He had three sons, viz : Solomon, named above, Robert, and Benjamin. After 
the demise of the elder Moon, the charge of the grist mill was assigned to Solomon, 
the saw-mill to Robert; and Benjamin had charge of the farm. All lived near to- 
gether, and shared equally in the profits and products of each of these industries. 
30 



234 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

its pastor until his death in 1775. From that time until 1788 
thej were supplied by traveling and lay preachers. During 
this year, the Rev. Lemuel Smith was inducted as their pastor, 
and a chapel was built, the first place of worship north of 
Albany, erected by Methodists to the service of the Most High. 

This church was the centre from which northward and west- 
ward, a Godly influence radiated to the extreme confines of 
civilization. In 1795 it contained sixty members. 

Soon afterward the Cambridge circuit was' formed. In 1799 
Billy Hibbard, and Henry Ryan, the itinerants on this circuit, 
traveled about five hundred miles, and filled sixty-three appoint- 
ments every four weeks, one of their stations at this time being 
Sauford's ridge in the town of Queensbury. Among the first 
Methodist ministers who visited Glen's Falls, were the Rev'ds 
Friend Draper, Daniel Brayton, Andrew McKean, Samuel Howe, 
and others, earnest and vigorous men, " valiant for the truth." 
Not satisfied with the already extended range of country, tra- 
versed by these men, Rev'ds Tobias Spicer, and Sherman Miner 
made occasional visits to this village, then only a hamlet, and held 
religious services in the old academy building, then on Ridge 
street on the site of Mr. Jerome Lapham's residence. The 
building, since removed, is now occupied by Messrs. Joubert 
& White as a Carriage Manufactory, on the corner of Warren 
and Jay streets. 

The late Dr. Spicer, whose memory is like precious ointment, 
was a clear thinker, shrewd debater, Catholic spirited and reso- 
lute. Mr. Miner was a man of mild, and lovely spirit and 
abundant in works. Both have passed to their reward. The 
first Methodist class, a name by which the branch societies are 
known and into which for greater activity and efficiency all these 
churches are divided, was formed in this village in 1824, by 
Rev. John Lovejoy,^ in the dwelling now known as the General 
Pettit place ^ situated between the canal and the river, in the 

' " When I first resided at Glen's Falls the church edifice was unfinished, and 
occasional preachers stood on the work bench. It was an independent Union 
church, but the Presbyterians took it and settled Mr. Boardraan. There was no 
other sect. When the Methodists gathered themselves together, they were ex- 
cluded from the meeting house. My piety was so much shocked, that I went to 
Daniel Peck's wood-shed, and borrowed an axe (without leave) for unlocking the 
church door, which was opened when the key-keeper saw me coming with that 
sharp edged substitute. Mr. Lovejoy forthwith entered in and expounded."^- 
Letter from Judge Hay to the cmtJior. 

' This building, and the adjoining store formerly conducted by Gen. Pettit, have 
very recently (March, 1874), been removed and demolished. 



THE CHURCHES. 235 

rear of the old stone store on the east side of Glen street and 
near the river bridge. It still stands, and is used as a dwelling. 
The original number of the class was twelve, eleven being 
women, only two, namely Mrs. Cynthia Swain, and Mrs. Mary 
Ellis,' are now living in this village. Others survive, but are 
widely scattered. Engravings of this old and plain structure, 
thus early consecrated and now the centre of olden and precious 
memories, together with others of the old academy, of the ori- 
ginal Union church occupied chiefly by the Presbyterians, and 
of the present beautiful structures, would show in part the pro- 
gress of Christianity here, and particularly of the M. E. church 
in the contrast of her early weakness and present strength. 

From this early date, to 1832, this whole northern region was 
embraced within the New York conference, and was traversed by 
heroic men, zealous for the conversion of the scattered inhabit- 
ants to Christianity. "We can only name the active and earnest 
John Clark, the first regularly appointed preacher to the societies 
in Sandy Hill and Glen's Falls ; Seymour Landon, amiable and 
popular; Julius Fields, characterized for administrative and 
financial ability, under whose auspices the first church edifice 
(the old stone building) was erected at a cost of about 
11,500^ in 1829, the land having been given by Mr. J. Pettit, 
nephew of the general. This structure is still standing, and has 
been for several years used by the Roman Catholics. Mr. Fields 
was followed by Rev. Robert Seeney and Coles Carpenter of 
precious memory. 

In 1832, the territory now known as the Troy conference, of 
which Glen's Falls is nearly the centre, north and south, was 
set off from the New York, both because of the numerical in- 
crease of the churches and for their better cultivation by the 
ministerial forces within the territory. The societies in Glen's 
Falls and Sandy Hill, being at about this time somewhat weak- 
ened, they were attached to others and entered into what for 
several years was known as the Fort Ann circuit, to which three 
preachers were sent, and who alternately supplied the several 

' Since deceased. 

" " Mr. Editor, the notice published in your last, of the new Methodist Episcopal 
Church, was proper and well ; but I think sufficient credit has not been given to 
the Rev. Mr. Fields, and several members of his congregation, for the zeal and en- 
terprise they have displayed in the erection and completion of this new edifice." — 
Warren County Messenger, Dec. 14, 1829. 

K. P. and H. J. Cool built the old Methodist church by contract, agreeing to 
take the subscription, whatever might be the amount collected, in liquidation of 
their claims. 



236 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

societies with religious services. This itinerant system, pecu- 
liar to Methodism was established by Wesley, as and history 
shows, not less adapted to old and populous countries than to 
new and sparsely settled ones, continued until 1849, — a period 
of seventeen years, — under such men of diversified talents as 
Elisha Andrews,^ assisted by P. M. Hitchcock, and L. PhilHps, 
Joseph Ayres, and D. P. Harding as colleague; J. B. Hough- 
taling, 2 aided by J. W. B. Wood, late of New York, Henry 
Stewart and G. Y. Palmer; Russell M. Little,^ with Wm! Chipp,* 
and Asa Fenton as colleagues; C. P. Clark, under whose ad- 
ministration the present parsonage was erected in 1840 ; A. M. 
Osborn, (now Rev. Dr. Osborn, of New York), a clear thinker 
and able preacher; James Covel, the student and scholar; Sey- 
mour Coleman, a war-horse, with James Quinlan as assistant ; 
E. B. Hubbard having Wm. Amer, and C. Devol, M. D. (now 
of Albany), as colleagues. 

In 1847-8 began a new era for the church, under the pastorate 
of Rev. C. R. Morris, in the erection, at a cost of about $5000, 
of a new and commodious brick, church edifice on Warren 
street, but which was destroyed by fire in 1864. In 1849 this 
society was erected into a separate station, having the services 
of Rev. J. F. Walker as preacher. At that time the number of 
members was 166, of probationers 15, making in all 181. The 
Sunday school consisted of ten teachers, and 125 scholars. 
Owing to the eccentricities of Mr. Walker, whose scholarly 
attainments, and preaching abilities are acknowledged, the 
church did not greatly flourish. After his terra of two years, 
Rev. J. H. Patterson, M. D., transferred from the Vermont 
conference, took the pastorate, from which time the society 
began to take on shape and efiicieucy that have continued more 
or less till the present. Then followed in succession Rev's B. 
0. Meeker, Geo. C. Wells, Merritt Bates, H. W. Ransom, M. D., 
W. H. Meekep, W. J. Heath, each for the term of two years, 
except Mr. Wells ; during which period of thirteen years, the 
church, with slight variations grew, and prospered, less in the 
number of communicants than in character. In 1864 Rev. J. 
K. Cheesman was, on invitation, appointed to the pastorate 
with strong expectations on the part of the authorities, of suc- 

' Drowned from a steamer a few years ago in the Hudson. 

' For 19 years the secretary of conference. 

' Late State Senator and now Pres. of Glen's Falls Insurance Company. 

■* Brother-in-law to Gen. J. B. McKean. 



THE CHURCHES. 237 

cess in a direction somewhat different from the past, and 
because of his cultivation, gentlemanly manners, and scholarly 
attainments, which, however, owing to the burning of the house 
of worship, was only in part realized. Yet the energy of the 
society, led on by their pastor, not only secured the erection of 
the present commodious edifice in 1865 at a cost of $16,000, but 
tended to give such preparation and consolidation to the church 
as that his earnest and laborious successor. Rev. M. B. Mead, 
was permitted to secure such an ingathering to the church as 
has accompanied the labors of no other minister since the 
organization of the original class. To this great harvest the 
labors of previous years contributed not a little. This is the 
order of God. One lays a foundation, another builds thereon. 
One plants, another waters, but God gives the increase. Mr. 
Mead reported a membership of 400, and on probation 60 persons. 

Under the late pastorate of Rev. B. Hawley, D.D., who was 
appointed to the church in the spring of 1869, on the invitation 
of the officers thereof, the society numbers 437 members, and 
70 candidates for membership, three Sunday schools, having an 
aggregate of at least 400 scholars, 40 teachers, and 400 volumes 
in the libraries. During this year, a neat and commodious brick 
chapel was newlyerectedatacostofabout$l,600, in South Glen's 
Falls, for the better accommodation of the increasing member- 
ship in that locality. The number and character of the church 
and congregation at present promise large success in the future. 

It may probably be fairly claimed that the Methodist church, 
in the essentials of prosperity and a vigorous and growing influ- 
ence, has the largest membership, the greatest number of hearers, 
the largest Sunday school, and contributes the most towards be- 
nevolent enterprises of any church in the town or county. 
Having its beginning, as above described, in 1824, being organ- 
ized into a class in the rear room of a private dwelling in what is 
now an obscure part of our village, holding meetings for a time 
alternately with the Presbyterians in the only church edifice then 
in the place, to wit, the old Union church in Pearlville, (as the 
place was then called), and in the Academy building, experi- 
encing many reverses and defections of unstable members, the 
society has grown to be an acknowledged power in the com- 
munity. 

Among the names of citizens worthy of honorable mention 
for their position, fidelity, and steady zeal in behalf of the 



238 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

chqrch from the beginning, are Elmore Piatt and his wif% 
Hiram Wells and wife, Joseph Wells, Isaac Cole, Linus Bishop, 
the tirst class leader, Isaac Hill, an early superintendent of the 
Sunday school, Hon. and Rev. R. M. Little and family, the 
Swartwout family, Alexander Robertson, the Burnham family, 
Mr. William McEachron, D. C. Holman, and others. 

It is proper to state also that during many years, occasional 
and irregular services, conducted sometimes by the pastors, and 
sometimes by the people, have been held in the adjacent settle- 
ments and suburbs, in school-houses and private houses ; Sunday 
schools have been organized, and class meetings held, and so the 
flame of religious zeal has flashed from many altars, whose path- 
ways have not always been carpeted, or over whose prayers and 
sacrifices has gleamed no sunlit spire, nor fluttered a gilded vane. 

Supplementary to the preceding account may be added, that 
during the pastorate of the Rev. J. W. Alderman (a) who suc- 

(ft) James W. Alderman, the youngest but one of eighteen children, is the son 
of Elijah and Mary (Watkins) Alderman, and was born in Athens county, Ohio, 
on the 39th of December, 1834. His father, who was born in the vicinity of Sche- 
nectady, N. Y., was a local preacher. 

He emigrated when quite young, to the then new Buckeye state, and accumu- 
lated a handsome property, which he was so unfortunate as to lose when the sub- 
ject of this sketch was but five years old. His mother was born in Washington 
county. Pa., and, at the tender age of four years, moved with her father to the 
unsettled wilds of the new state. 

As a consequence of his father's misfortune, James was thrown upon the world 
and his own resources, when but a mere child, since when, he has taken care of 
himself. His first attempt at self support was on a small farm which he and his 
younger brothers managed to secure after his father's failure, where he was obliged 
to work very hard, and where he had no school advantages to speak of, the 
country being sparsely settled, the nearest school two miles distant, the benefits 
of which he only had two months in the year at that. 

At sixteen years of age, having accumulated a small sum, (less than fifty dollars) 
by the hardest kind of industry, and the most pinching economy, he attended the 
high school at Millersburgh, Ohio, for six months. For the three following years, 
he alternately taught school and attended school at the Ohio Wesleyan University 
located at Delaware, Ohio. During his stay at Millersburgh, he was converted and 
joined the Methodist Episcopal church. At the age of eighteen he was licensed to 
exhort, and the following year was licensed to preach, being admitted on the 10th 
of September, 1854, to the Ohio conference. He remained in this connection the 
following six years, traveling hard circuits, and performing the usual drudgery 
of a neophyte. 

He was married on the 19th of May, 1855, to Miss Adaline, youngest daughter 
of Travis Wilson, Esq., a wealthy and influential farmer of his native county. 

In 1860, he was transferred to the Central Ohio conference. During the Rebellion, 
he was chaplain of the 20th Ohio Vol. Infantry, until June 20th, 1863, when he 
was compelled to resign because of sickness. 



THE CHURCHES. 239 

ceeded Dr. Hawley in 1872, and 3, a large increase has been 
added to the membership of the church, chiefly the result of a 
revival protracted through a period of many weeks, in the win- 
ter and spring of 1873. During the latter year, a large and 
expensive addition has been built upon the rear of the church, 
entailing almost an entire renovation and reconstruction of the 
entire building; a description of which is here given. 

When the necessity for additional space became obvious, the 
first movement made was in the purchase of the fine lot No 28 
Wauren street, adjoining the church property on the west, and 
owned by H. M. Harris, Esq. This purchase was made in 
1872, and in the early fall of 1873, the building of the addition 
was commenced, which was last evening, Thursday, Febuary 12, 
thrown open to the congregation and the public. 

The church, as now completed, would not, from its external 
appearance, give a correct idea to a stranger of its symmetri- 
cal, commodious and really beautiful interior. 

On the 2d of May, 1864, he again went out to the front as chaplain, with the 
13th Ohio Vols., from Toledo, Ohio, where he was then stationed as pastor, their 
term of service, one hundred days, being spent principally at Bermuda Hundred, 
and Fort Powhattan, until the 20th of September, when they were discharged, 
and he returned to his people at Toledo. At this time, he received a donation of 
nearly $600, from his friends in the regiment and their families, as a testimonial 
of their appreciation and regard. 

On the 25th of May, 1865, he was sent by Bishop Scott, to Little Rock, Arkansas, 
where he remained as stationed preacher, and presiding elder of Little Rock dis- 
trict for two years. Here his health again failed, and he was compelled to return 
north. In 1868 he was transferred to the Troy conference, and assigned to the 
charge of Grace church, Albany, where he remained three years. During his pas- 
torate here, the beautiful location where the chapel now stands, was purchased, 
and their Sunday school, and lecture room was built. 

In the spring of 1872, at the special request of A. N. Locke, and J). C. Holman, 
he was appointed to the station at Glen's Falls, since when, one hundred and 
twenty persons have been received in full connection in the church ; the new par- 
sonage lot has been purchased, the church building repaired, as above stated, at a 
cost of twenty-one thousand dollars, and four thousand dollars additional placed in 
fund towards the erection of a new parsonage. 

Mr. Alderman is the fortunate possessor of great natural advantages. Of large, 
commanding stature, pleasing appearance, affable, and winning address, and strong 
personal magnetism, he must inevitably be a man of mark and influence wherever 
his lot is cast. To these qualifications, may be added a strong, earnest, impulsive 
delivery as a speaker, a ready command of language, a clear, logical sequence of 
thought, floating easily over a deep current of pathos, and a fervent, untirino- de- 
votion to his calling. It is quite morally certain that the hour his mission work 
at Glen's Falls is ended, will find hosts of regretful admirers, and warm hearted 
friends, to send their sympathies, affections, and regards forward with him through 
all time, to the endless and immeasurable realms of eternity. 



240 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY, 

The addition to this edifice consists of a transept in the rear, 
34 feet deep, with a width of 70 feet. This transept is not tho- 
roughly cruciform in its relation to the main building, as it has 
a greater lateral projection to the west than to the east. In the 
rear of all, is the organ-recess in the main auditorium directly 
above the parlors of the lower floor. 

In the basement, the addition has been cut up into three par- 
lors, and by other changes furnace-rooms and library-room have 
been added, in the latter apartment water from the mains hav- 
ing been introduced. The lecture room is of sufficient size to 
accommodate the sabbath school and prayer meetings, and will be 
used for all services except the regular Sunday preaching ser- 
vices. The original seating capacity of this room was 572, but 
with the present additions and rearrangement 1,000 people can 
be accommodated with seats. The extreme length of this audi- 
torium is 124 feet, the width of the old portion being 45 feet 
and the rear or transept portion 70 feet in width. The seats 
which were previously in use have been retained and additional 
ones, built of the same pattern, but they are rendered much 
more comfortable than of old, by the greater excellence of the 
new cushions. On the west side of the transept, a private stair- 
way has been formed, which communicates with the lower por- 
tion of the building, and will give ingress and egress to and from 
the outside, to such of the choir as may desire to be spared the 
publicity of passing through that portion devoted to the congre- 
gation. 

A grand feature in church decoration has ever been kept in 
view by the very excellent committee, in retaining in every re- 
spect a light and cheerful appearance for everything — nothing 
somber appears to mar the warm and comforting effects. The 
windows, of stained glass, are plentiful in numbers and in their 
combination of coloring present no obstacle to the free admis- 
sion of light. In the front of the church is an exceedingly large 
rose window, of pot-metal glass, in which the coloring is cast 
directly into the material. In the other windows an entirely 
new pattern is used, the centres of quarry, being plain ground 
glass with black tracery, enriched with broad borders in colors 
and ornamental heads. Each two of the windows are of the 
same pattern, the companions on either side being alike, while 
all other than those facing each other are different. 

The woodwork of altar, pulpit and organ recess is magnificent. 



} 




METHODIST CnURCn, GLENS FALLS. 



THE CHURCHES. 241 

The woodwork is the best of waluut, with new patterns and de- 
signs in the construction, the panels and many portions being 
of the finest French walnut of superior finish and grain. That 
portion outside of the altar used for kneeling purposes is up- 
holstered in scarlet rep. The rail is of walnut as is all of the 
interior altar and pulpit work. The pulpit rises above the altar, 
and the organ recess and orchestra again rising above the pulpit. 

On either side of the pulpit, and removed but a few feet from 
it, are two tablets occupying nearly the full height of the room. 
The one to the west has as a symbol at its head, the descending 
dove of peace, and the open Bible, with the Lord's Prayer and 
New Commandment inscribed in old English text. The tablet 
to the east is surmounted with the cross and crown, underneath 
which, is the Apostle's Creed, in text also. 

The frescoing is fine, but without any marked peculiarity in 
color or design. The sides are mainly buff and brown, while 
the ceiling predominates in blue, enriched with crimson and 
gold in lines and centre pieces. The work is artistic but not 
particularly noticeable for intricacy of execution. 

The cushions and carpeting are expensive, choice and attract- 
ive. The cushions are of dark scarlet crimson terry cloth and 
filled with the best quality of curled hair. The carpet of the 
auditorium is of good quality, red and black. The pulpit cai-pet 
is of brussels, white ground with delicate figure in gold, red and 
black. Over 600 yards of carpeting have been used in this 
room alone. 

The chandeliers, of which there are three, are pendants, in 
blue and gold with heavy scarlet bauds, the design being new, 
and when lighted up present the partial illusion of plants with 
flowers in bloom, the latter represented by the gas flame. 
Springing out of the bands and a common stem are branches 
in clusters of three, terminating in gold burner tips. There are 
nine of these branches to each chandelier, with three burners to 
each branch, making twenty-seven burners to each chandelier. 
The altar lights are two standards, one on either side of the 
pulpit, each standing seven feet in height and with nine burners. 
The organ recess is lighted by the ordinary burners and the 
front of the organ has two projecting chandeliers of three ele- 
gant clusters each. 

The organ is of course one of the main features of the church. 
The design is in harmony with the architecture of the church, 
31 



242 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURT. 

and it is warranted to be superior to any instrument in Glen's 
Falls or Sandy Hill. It stands nineteen feet in height, with a 
width of twenty-three feet. The displayed pipes in the front are 
of silvered metal, additionally ornamented by gold tips and 
black tracery bands. This instrument has 21 stops and 781 
pipes, the largest with 16 feet pitch. The front of the organ, 
except that part where the displayed pipes appear, is of good 
quality of black walnut. Its cost was $2,500. 

The cost of the present improvements is in the neighborhood 
of $21,000, which, with the cost of land and the old church build- 
ing, makes the entire value about $45,000. 

To the building committee, and to the pastor much of the 
credit of the actual planning and arranging of the new building 
is due, but to those who actually executed, mention should not 
be forgotten. The brick-work was done by Holman & Pike. 
The architecture was by Nichols & Halcott, of Albany. The 
wood-work, which is a distinctive and agreeable feature, was by 
Morgan & Durkee. The windows, costing $1,025, were from 
the house of Frederick & Brothers, Brooklyn, N. Y. The fres- 
coing was done by A. P. Walcott, of New York city. The 
carpets are from Taylor & Waterman, of Albany. The chan- 
deliers and gas fitting from the house of Archer, Pancost & Co., 
of New York city. The organ from Steer & Turner, Westfield, 
Mass., although the front was redesigned by Mr. Nichols, of 
the firm of Nichols & Halcott, Albany : and finally, a world of 
active work has been patiently accomplished by the many work- 
ing ladies of the congregation.^ 

As we have stated that in 1824 the number composing the 
Methodist class of Glen's Falls was twelve persons, it seems 
fair that for purposes of comparison we should mention that the 
membership now numbers about 550 souls, with an average 
Sunday school attendance of 275 children. 

The society claim, it is understood, the largest Sunday school 
and Bible class and the largest average attendance, and mem- 
bership of any of the evangelical denominations, in the place. 

In this connection, it is proper to make mention of the brick 
church at the West mountain, near the Codner school house. 
This was completed in the fall of 1871, since when, it has been 
under the pastoral charge of the Rev. J. F. Growl, and has grown 

' For this graphic sketch of the recent improvements in the M. E. Church build- 
ing, the author tenders his acknowledgements to the graceful and ready pen of 
Add. L. Stodard. 



THE CHURCHES. 



243 



to be a prosperous and thriving church. Mr. Growl has charge 
also of the church on the Ridge, the congregation of which mostly 
reside in this town, although the building stands in the edge of 
Kingsbury. 

Ministers of M. E. Church stationed at Glen's Falls. 



John Lovejoy, 1824 

John Clark, 1824-5 

Seymour Landon, -.. 1826-7 

Julius Fields, 1828-9 

Robert Seeney, 1830-1 

Coles Carpenter, 1832 

Elisha Andrews, 1833 

P. M. Hitchcock, " 

Elisha Andrews, 1834 

Zebulon Philips, " 

Joseph Ayers, 1835 

Doren P. Harding, " 

J. B. Houghtailing, 1836 

J. W. B. Wood, » 

Henry W. Stewart, " 

J. B. Houghtailing, 1837 

J. W. B. Wood, " 

Gilbert Y. Palmer, " 

Russell M. Little, 1838 

William M. Chipp, " 

Charles P. Clark, 1839 

Asa F. Fenton, " 

A.M. Osborn 1840 

David Osgood, " 

James Covel, 1841-2 

William Amer , " 

' To the latter I am chiefly indebted for the material of this sketch. Thanks are 
also due to Mr. Elmore Piatt, Judge Noble of Johnsburg, and a few others, for 
information rendered in this connection. 

{a) Rev. Mr. Hawley, is a native of Camillus, Onondaga co., N. Y., and was 
born April 8, 1814. Deprived of Ms father by death, when but thirteen years of 
age, he was thenceforward subject to the direction and councils of his mother, 
whose New England tastes kept him at the home schools until the age of seventeen , 
when he was sent to the popular seminary at Cazenovia. There, in the summer of 
1831, he made a profession of experimental Christianity. The special object of 
his academic studies being for mercantile life, he spent the summer of 1833 in a 
store in Syracuse, at wbich place he was baptized and received into the Methodist 
church. Having thus early an impression of a call to the Christian ministry he 
resumed his studies the following summer in the newly established seminary at 



Seymour Coleman, 


1843 • 


0. E. Spicer, 


<( 


Seymour Coleman, 


, 1844 


James Quinlan, 


(( 


Elijah B. Hubbard, 


1845 


James Quinlan, 


u 


Elijah B. Hubbard, 


1846 


Charles Devol, 


u 


Christopher R. Morris,.. 


1847 


William N. Frazer, 


« 


H. W. Ransom, 


(( 


C. R. Morris, 


1848 


Wm. Frazer, 


(( 


S. S.Ford, 


(( 


Jason F. Walher, 


1849-50 


J. W. Patterson, 


, 1851-2 


B. 0. Meeker, 


1853-4 


Greorge C Wells, 


1855 


Merritt Bates 


1856-7 


William H. Meeker, 


1858-9 


Halsey W. Ransom, 


1860-1 


William J. Heath, 


1862-3 


J. R. Cheeseman, 


1864-5-6 


M. B. Mead, 


1867-8 


Bostwick Hawley, (a) 




D.D.i 


, 1869-70 



244 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 



THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

Early Missionary Efforts. 

Three fourths of a century ago, the services of the Protestant 
Episcopal church were introduced into this region of country, 
through the instrumentality of the Rev. Philander Chase, late 
bishop of the diocese of Illinois ; who, immediately upon his 
admission to the ministry, started upon an itinerating tour to 
the north, following the settlements along the valley of the 
Hudson, as far as Queensbury, and from thence, pushing through 
the wilderness, to the then remote, and but little known settle- 
ment of Thurman. At this point, whose name is now changed 
to Warrensburgh, the regular observance of the liturgy was, 
for a brief period established, and a subscription circulated to 
obtain means to build a church. A part of the donations for 
this purpose were a glebe, and a quantity of timber, which was 
hewn and delivered upon the ground. 

Wanting the fostering care of a clergyman, the undertaking 
was not prospered ; the timbers rotted on the ground, and the 
lot was afterward appropriated to other uses. For two long 

Lima ; and in the following winter taught school in Lyons, Wayne cc, where he 
was licensed to exhort by Rev. Dr. Carlton. In the spring of 1834, young Hawley 
again entered the Cazenovia seminary for the purpose of preparing for college 
which he entered in 1835, at Middletown, Conn. Graduating in 1838 he was im- 
mediately elected to the chair of Ancient Languages in the seminary at Cazenovia. 
Remaining in that position four years he was in the meantime ordained deacon 
and received into the Oneida conference in 1839, and appointed by the bishop to 
his academic position. Health giving way under the severe labors of his chair, 
accompanied as they were with almost constant preaching on Sundays in adjacent 
communities, he was induced to enter upon pastoral duties in 1842 over the First 
Methodist church in Utica. Since then Mr. Hawley has devoted himself to the 
ministry in populous towns over a wide sweep of country in the states of New 
York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Vermont, and within the bounds of what 
are now three conferences. 

Having to some extent prosecuted literary labors outside of the special theolo- 
gical range, and having written somewhat extensively for church journals, Mr. 
Hawley was honored by his Alma Mater, in 1863, with the degree of doctor of 
divinity. His other literary labors, besides those for the pulpit, consist of articles 
in the Metliodist Quarterly jRcyiew, treatises published by the church in tract form, 
and the Manual of Methodism, which, having reached its second and enlarged 
edition, is regarded as a standard work of its kind on the doctrines and usages of 
that church. 



THE CHURCHES. 245 

generations, the field remained to a great degree unoccupied, 
and, it is only within a recent period, that the church of the 
Holy Cross at "Warrensburgh, has been organized on this old 
missionary ground.* 

Not long afterward, the Rev. Ammi Rogers itinerated 
through the wilderness region of northern IsTew York, visiting, 
and holding services at Ticonderoga, at the head of Lake George, 
and also at the Ridge, in the town of Queensbury,^ besides 
foundingseveral churches in the county of Saratoga, ov.er which, 
he appears to have had pastoral jurisdiction.^ 

Later on, the Right Rev. George TJpfold, D.D., bishop of the 
diocese of Indiana;* at that time rector of the parishes in the 
thriving villages of Waterford and Lausingburgh, at the earnest 
solicitation of some personal friends, visited this section and 
contributed to the establishment of Zion church, of Sandy 
Hill, which had been organized a short time previously through 
the zeal and persevering efforts of Dr. Zina Hitchcock of Kings- 
bury. The services were held in the Court House, which, for 
a long period, many years later, was still used for the same 
purpose. 

' These statements were communicated to the author something more than 
twenty years ago, by the late George Pattison, Esq., of Warrensburgh. Bishop 
Chase's visitation was about the year 1796. It is spoken of in his Memoirs. 

* This statement is given on the authority of Mrs. Joel Wells, who formerly lived 
at the Ridge. 

^" At a meeting of the wardens and vestrymen of the several Episcopal churches 
in the county of Saratoga, viz : in Ballston, Milton, Stillwater, Waterford, Charlton, 
Galway, Qreenfield and Providence, in the State of New York, duly warned and 
convened in Ballston, February \st, 1800. 

" Voted Unanimously, That the thanks of the several churches in the county of 
Saratoga, be presented to Rev. Ammi Rogers, for his unwearied labors and faith- 
ful services, in the promotion of religion ; that owing to his abilities and discretion, 
the Episcopal church has become prosperous and respectable ; that his exemplary 
piety, and spotless morals, uniformly demonstrated in his life and conversation, 
merit our warmest acknowledgements ; and that no exertions on our part shall be 
wanting, to render his situation comfortable and easy, and his life happy." — Me- 
m,oirs of Rev. Ammi Bogers, p. 28. 

* " In the summer of 1820, while rector of Trinity church, Lansingburgh, 
and Grace church, Waterford, I visited a little flock of churchmen at Sandy 
Hill, * * * * gathered together through the instrumentality of Dr. Hitch- 
cock ; and officiated for them, reading prayers, preaching, administering the Lord's 
Supper. * * * * There was a considerable congregation on the occasion of 
this visit, but very few communicants, and they composed chiefly of the family, 
and family connections of Dr. Hitchcock. I recollect well, the vessels used at the 
celebration of the Holy communion were of a very humble character, consistino- 
of a common earthen plate for the bread, and a glass tumbler for the wine, a black 
junk bottle being placed on the tabic as the flagon containing the wine, which 



246 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

During these visitations, Dr. Upfold was, on one occasion, 
the guest of William McDonald, Esq., of this village, whose 
family have for years been distinguished for its interest, zeal, 
and liberality in behalf of the church. 

Some years later, the Rev. Mr. Pardee ^ officiated for a short 
time in the Beach neighborhood in Kingsbury. Not far from 
the same period, the Rev. Reuben Hubbard came to Glen's Falls 
with the purpose of establishing the church, but was adroitly 
diverted from his object by certain, like those of whom St. Jude 
speaks, " murmerers, complainers, walking aft^r their own lusts; 
and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's 
persons in admiration because of advantage." 

Early in the year 1840, a movement was made on the part 
of a few church families living here, toward the establishment 
of the Episcopal church. To that end, the Rev. John Alden 
Spooner, then of St. Albans, Vt., was invited to visit Glen's 
Falls, and undertake the organization of a parish. The enter- 
prise met with flattering encouragement, and fair success. 

The services, which were held for a year in the old stone 
church (Methodist), were well attended, and for a season re- 
ceived the cordial support of several leading families of the place. 

The following paper, is copied from the original record, 
which is on file in the county clerk's office at Caldwell. 

Act of Incorporation. 

" To all to whom these presents may come, we, whose names 
and seals are hereto affixed, do certify that in pursuance of no- 
after pouring a sufficient quantity into tlie tumbler, I put away under tlie table. 
There was much creditable zeal displayed by Dr. Hitchcock and his few associates, 
and an earnest desire exhibited to have the services of a missionary. I visited the 
little flock a second time, and officiated * * * It was on this last 
visit, that I was the guest of William McDonald, Esq., who, with his family, had 
been parishioners of mine at Waterford. * * * I am under the im- 
pression that a parish had been organized under the auspices of Dr. Hitchcock at 
Sandy Hill before my visit, and was represented by him in the convention of the 
•diocese, certainly not long after " — Letter from BisJiop Upfold ' to the author. 

' In the journals of the convention for 1838, the Rev. Amos Pardee is reported 
at Caldwell, Warren co., without a parish. Whether he held services at that 
point, does not appear. 



> Bishop Upfold, of the diocese of Indiana, died at his home in Indianapolis on Monday, the 
■2fith of Auj^nst, 1872, in the Tfith year of his age. The following mention is made of him in 
MuDseirs Annals of Albany, vol. v, p. 39, March 11, 1813. "It was announced that a Sunday 
free school would be opened on Sunday, March 21, at the school room of George Upfold, in Van 
Tromp street, where several branches of English education would be taught from the hours of 
6 to 8 in the morning, and 12 to 2 in the afternoon free of all expense. 



THE CHURCHES. 247 

tice duly given according to Law for that purpose, at the time 
of Divine service on two Sunday mornings now last past, the 
male persons of full age belonging to such congregation or 
society worshipping in the village of Glen's Falls, in the county 
of Warren, and state of N'ew York, to wit, at the house of W. 
C. Carter, for the purpose of incorporating themselves under 
the act entitled an act to provide for the incorporation of Reli- 
gious Societies and acts to amend the same. At which meeting, 
and by a majority of voices the undersigned, John Alden 
Spooner, {a) being a deacon in the church, was called to the 

(a) Rev. John Alden Spooner, of puritan stock, and pilgrim ancestry, 
{having derived his name, and being of direct descent from the famous John 
Alden, of Mayflower memory) was born in Charlestown, Mass., 3d April, 1808. 
Following the migratory habits of Yankee land, his parents removed to Windsor, 
Vt. His academic instruction was received at St. Albans, Vt. , where, he was con- 
firmed by Bishop Griswold. His collegiate course was passed at the University 
of Vermont from which he received in due course his degree of master of arts. 
His preparation for the ministry was made at the General Theolog. Seminary of 
the Protestant Episcopal church in New York city, of which institution he became 
a graduate. He was ordained a deacon at St. Mark's church in the Bowery, 
in 1838, by the Rt. Rev. B. T. Onderdonk, bishop of the diocese. For a brief 
period, he officiated (in the absence of the rector abroad), at St. George's, Schen- 
ectady. After a short work devoted to the revival of the old parish at Fairfield, 
Vt., he received a call to the hitherto unoccupied field at Glen's Falls. His rela- 
tions to this parish are spoken of at large in the history of the church. 

During the interval of destitution at Glen's Falls namely in 1847, '8, '9, Mr. 
Spooner officiated as rector, first, of St. Luke's church at Mechanicsville, and after- 
ward of Grace church, Albany. 

In 1855, at the invitation of Bishop Whittingham, he removed to Baltimore, 
Md., and commenced an important missionary work in the western suburbs of 
the city on entirely new ground. Here, at the outbreak of the rebellion, he had 
secured the purchase of four acres of ground, pleasantly situated, whose vicinity 
was rapidly being built up by a thrifty population. These grounds, covered with 
a native growth of forest-trees, were substantially protected with fences. Within 
this enclosure had been erected a church, and a sexton's house. A school-house 
and a parsonage were among the prospective improvements to have been made. 
All of these buildings and improvements were utterly destroyed, and the grounds 
laid waste by the northern soldiery encamped in that neighborhood, after the raid 
of Fitzhugh Lee into Maryland. 

At this time, Mr. Spooner had accepted an appointment as chaplain in the army, 
in which capacity he was stationed for two years at the United States General 
Hospital at Point Lookout, Md. In this service, his health became seriously im- 
paired, and he was finally, for that reason, obliged to resign his position, and seek, 
in an extended tour to the north, a restoration to health. 

In 1866, he removed from Baltimore, to the village of Beverly, N. J., where, for 
a time, he has been in charge of two missionary stations, which, under his care, 
were materially advanced in Christian character, and temporal prosperity. 

Mr. Spooner has been the author and publisher of the following tracts and 
pamphlets, whose sharp, incisive style, and com])act, logical argument, have 
aroused hostile criticism, and contributed to perpetuate a clear, if not a friendly 



248 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

chair and presided, and the undersigned, Eeyes P. Cool and 
William C. Carter, were nominated to certify the proceedings 
of said meeting in conjunction with the chairman, and by a 
majority of votes William C. Carter and N. Edson Sheldon 
were elected church wardens ; and William McDonald, Abra- 
ham Wing, Keyes P. Cool, Nehemiah Sheldon, Henry Philo, 
Walter Geer jr., George Sanford, and Orange Ferriss were 
elected vestrymen of said church. And Easter Monday in the 
week called Easter week was, in like manner fixed on as the 
day on which the said officers, church wardens and vestrymen 
shall annually thereafter cease, and their successor in office be 
chosen. And the name or title of the ' Rector, church war- 
dens, and vestrymen of the Church of the Messiah in the village 
of Glen's Falls,' in like manner fixed on and agreed to as that 
by which the said church, congregation or society shall be 
known in law. 

" In testimony whereof, we, John Alden Spooner, together 
with the undersigned Keyes P. Cool, and William C. Carter, 
have hereunto subscribed our names and affixed our seals this 
tenth day of February in the year of our Lord, one thousand, 
eight hundred and forty. 

" John Alden Spooner, [l.s.] 
" Keyes P. Cool, [l.s.] 

" William C. Carter, [l.s.] 

" Signed and sealed in presence of, 

" Orange Ferriss, 
" ISTehemiah Shelden. 

" On the twenty-fourth day of February, in the year of our 
Lord, one thousand eight hundred and forty, before me, Hiram 
Earber, first judge of the Court of Common Pleas in and for 

conviction of the nature of the cliurcli. 1st. Methodism as held by Wesley. ■2d. 
Sermon on the death of the Rev. Palmer Dyer. 3d. The Catholic saved from 
Popery. 4th. The Supremacy of the Pope disproved by Holy Scriptures. 5th. 
Bible Unity. 

Mr. Spooner is a representative man, of indomitable will, and energy, and un- 
flinchint? resolution and industry. He is one of the few who so believe in God, 
as not to fear what man can do unto them. His faith and opinions are well 
gfrounded. and fortified by the discriminating investigations of a ripe scholarship. 
He is gentlemanly and affable in his social intercourse, with a great deal of personal 
magnetism, which might have secured troops of friends and great popularity as a 
preacher, but for his independence of character and fixed determination never to 
acknowledge any true religion outside of the church. 




(.IIUKCII OF THE MESSIAH, (JLENS FALLS. 



J 



THE CHURCHES. 249 

the county of Warreu, personally appeared Orange Ferriss of 
Qiieensbury, one of the subscribing witnesses to the above in- 
strument, who being duly sworn, did depose and say, that he 
was present and saw John Alden Spooner, Keyes P. Cool, and 
William C. Carter, whose names and seals are affixed to the 
foregoing certificate, sign and seal the same, and that the de- 
ponent, together with Nehemiah Sheldeu,did, in their presence, 
and at their request, subscribe the same as witnesses. 

" Hiram Barber. 

" I certify the preceding to be a true record of the original cer- 
tificate with the acknowledgement thereof, and examined and 
compared with the record being this 11th day of March, A.D., 
1840. 

" Thomas Archibald, Clerk. 

" State of N'ew York 1 ^ 
County Clerk's Office, j 

I, Thomas Archibald, clerk of said county do 
certify that I have compared the foregoing copy 
of a certificate now remaining on record in this 
office, and that the same is a correct transcript of 
the record, and of the whole of said record. In testimony where- 
of, I have hereunto set my hand, and affixed the seal of the 
said county, this 19th day of May, 1857. 

"Thomas Archibald, Clerk." 



CHURCH OF THE MESSIAH, GLENS FALLS. 

On the eighteenth of August, 1840,^ the parish was visited by 
the Rt. Rev. Benj'n T. Ouderdonk, bishop of the diocese, who 
was accompanied by several of the neighboring clergy. In 
accordance with previous announcement, in the forenoon of that 

' The followiug is taken from the Glen's Falls Spectator, of Aug. 13th, 1840. 
Subsequent to this announcement, a change was made in the place where the ex- 
ercises were to be held. 

" We are requested to give notice that Bishop Onderdonk will hold a visitation 
service in this village on Tuesday of next week the 18th inst. In the morning 
(services beginning at half past ten o'clock), the bishop will administer ordina- 
tion, conferring the order of the priesthood on the missionary of this parish, and, 
in the afternoon (services beginning at 3 o'clock) the rite of confii-mation will be 
administered by the bishop. A third service will be held in the evening at half 
past 7 o'clock. The services are to be held in the Methodist Church." 
32 



250 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

day, the imposing ceremony of ordination to the priesthood, 
was conferred upon the incumbent of the parish. In the after- 
noon, the rite of confirmation was received by fourteen persons 
in the presence of a large assemblage, who were interested wit- 
nesses of the novel and impressive ceremonial. The services 
on this memorable occasion, were held in the (Old White) 
Presbyterian church. 

About this time, the parish of St. James, at Fort Edward, was 
established, and Zion church, on Sandy Hill, revived and reor- 
ganized. These, with the church at Glen's Falls, constituted a 
missionary station under the pastoral charge of the Rev. Mr. 
Spooner, who held services alternately, one Sunday at Glen's 
Falls, and the next at Sandy Hill and Fort Edward.^ 

Owing to various causes, the remembrance of which it 
is not worth while to perpetuate in history, a feeling of rancor- 
ous, and active hostility to the church commenced soon after 
these events, and rapidly developing with the dank and noisome 
growth, which feeds upon calumny, and unreasoning hate, 
it speedily pervaded all classes of community. This antagonism 
did not always restrict itself to an apathetic indifference, or the 
moderate expression of adverse sentiments, but, adding fuel to 
flames already aglow, there were not Avauting overt acts of 
oppression, which, in some instances assumed the character- 
istics of unrelenting persecution. Unhappy differences also 
arose within the fold, between the pastor, and his people, by 
reason of which, many withdrew from its communion never to 
return. Church members and sectaries no longer fraternized. 
Meeting houses were closed against the diminished band of 
worshippers, who, the succeeding winter, assembled fortnightly, 
for the purposes of worship in an old school room, one while 

' In the Journal of the convention of tlie diocese of New York for 1840 " the 
Rev. John A. Spooner, missionary at Glen's Falls," reports as follow : " Remarks. 
I have had charge of this missionary station since 19th January last. Besides 
Glen's Falls and Sandy Hill, the station includes Fort Edward. The report for 
Fort Edward (no organization having yet been ejffected there), is included in that 
of Sandy Hill. 

" In one short mi.ssion northwards from my station, I held services at Ticonderoga, 
Warrensburgh, Chester, and Minerva ; at Minerva, 40 miles from Glen's Falls, I 
baptized two children not included in the above reports. In addition to my regu- 
lar Sunday services, I occupied, two weeks previous to the visit of the bishop, for 
confirmation , every evening in one week at Glen's Falls, and every evening of 
the other at Sandy Hill, in lectures on the order and holiness of the Church." 

On the 30th of Sept., 1849, the church being reported as regularly incorporated 
according to law was admitted into union with the convention. 



THE CHURCHES. 251 

used as a printing office, on Park street.^ It was emphatically 
*' the little church around the corner." ^ 

For a year or more following, the services were held at pri- 
vate dwellings, the rector's support being chiefly derived from 
the missionary stipend, and the meagre Sunday contributions 
of the feeble band of followers. 

In the face of these discouraging conditions, money was col- 
lected, a building lot purchased, on Ridge street, opposite the 
school house of District No. 2, and an unpretentious chapel was 
built, which, for a period of nearly twenty-five years, served the 
congregation as a place of worship. 

In the journal of the Diocesan Convention for 1844, Mr. 
Spooner reports as follows. " By the blessing of God, a church 
edifice at Glen's Falls is so nearly completed, that it has been 
occupied with comfort most of the year past. It is the first and 
only church edifice in Warren county; its sittings are/ree; and 
its font, which is near the porch door, is so constructed as to 
admit of immersing either children or adults." In a supplement- 
ary statement, he adds that services are held regularly once a 
month in the adjoining towns of Argyle, "Wilton, Fortsville and 
Moreau. 

About this time, a plan was projected to establish parochial 
schools in each of the three associated parishes. The one at 
Glen's Falls, was established on the south side of the river in 
the little village now known as South Glen's Falls. Mr. Charles 
H. Beach, now a merchant of Sandy Hill, organized a similar 
school at Fort Edward. These schools speedily attained a de- 
servedly exalted reputation for the excellence of their manage- 
ment, and the superiority of their intellectual culture. 

During these years of struggle and penury, the general 
efficiency and prosperity of the church, and particularly in this 
diocese, had become greatly impaired by reason of the unhappy 

' Immediately previous to tliis tlie services had been lield for a season in the 
Ladies' Seminary, now the school house of Dist. No. 19. The Sunday schools 
were held in the basement of the same building. 

. ^ In his report for 1841, the bishop states that " in the evening, for the parish 
of the church of the Messiah, preached in the Presbyterian meeting house. Glen's 
Falls, Warren county." It will be borne in mind, however, that this was an ex- 
ceptional service. 

In the bishop's report, contained in the journal of the convention for 1843, he 
says : " Friday 12, (May) confirmed for the parishes of Zion church, Sandy Hill, and 
the church of the Messiah, Glen's Falls, Warren county, 7 in the Methodist meeting 
house, Fort Edward." 



252 HISTORY OF TEE TOWN OF QUEENSBURT. 

events and controversies, whicli finally resulted in the suspen- 
sion of Bishop Onderdonk from the functions of the Episcopate 
and ministry. This took place on the third of January, 1845, 
and, from that time, until the election of the Right Rev. Jona- 
than M. Wainright, as provisional bishop of the diocese in 
September, 1852, no returns appear upon the Journals of the 
Convention, due, it is said, to a canon, or regulation, which pro- 
vides that all parochial reports shall be made directly to the 
bishop. By reason of this unfortunate restriction, and the loss 
of the church records by fire in the great conflagration of 1864, 
the statistics of the church, for this period are defective, and 
unsatisfactory. 

In the spring of 1846, the Rev. Samuel B. Bostwick {a) and 
Henry McVickar, were appointed adjunct or assistant ministers 

(a) The Rev. Samuel B. Bostwick, S. T. D. , was born in the town of Jericho, Vt., 
on the 15th of March, 1815. He was of English extraction ; his ancestors, who 
immigrated in 1668, being members of the church of England, and four of their 
descendants have been clergymen of the Episcopal church, two of whom are still 
living. His father, Arthur Bostwick, was born in Manchester, Vt., in 1778, and 
removed in early life to Jericho, where he died at the advanced age of 88 years. 

The subject of this sketch, entered the University of Vermont at Burlington, in 
1831, and graduated in August, 1835. He received his degree as Master of Arts, 
from this institution in 1838, and in 1867, Columbia College, N. Y., conferred upon 
him the degree of S. T. D. 

He became a candidate for Holy Orders, in the diocese of Vermont, and entered 
the General Theological Seminary, in New York, in October, 1839. Through 
failure of health, he was obliged to discontinue his seminary course at the end of 
the second year. The remainder of the theological studies were pursued under 
the direction of the Right Rev. Bishop Hopkins, of Vermont, by whom he was 
admitted to the diaconate, at St. Paul's chiirch in Burlington, 27th February, 1843. 
The order of priesthood was received at the same hands, on the 15th September, 
following, at Trinity church, Rutland. The first two years of his ministry were 
spent in missionary labors in his native place and its neighborhood. In 1844, he 
accepted a call to St. Thomas' church, Brandon, Vt., where he remained two years. 
His connection with the church of the Messiah, Glen's Falls, commenced in April, 
1846. During the existence of that relation, he resided at Sandy Hill, where he 
opened a select school, from which he derived a large portion of his support. He 
relinquished the parish at Glen's Falls in 1847, but retained charge of the other 
two above named until June, 1870, when he resigned the rectorship of St. James' 
church, Fort Edward, and has since restricted his labors to the parish at Sandy 
Hill. 

In a communication to the author, Mr. Bostwick thus sums up the result of hia 
labors. " During the quarter of a century that has elapsed since my first connection 
with the church of the ISIessiah, Glen's Falls, I have seen a gratifying increase of 
the cliurch, in the mission field which we then occupied. We then constituted 
an associaU; mission, and our field extended frorh Warrensburgh on the north, to 
Salem, Union villag(,', and Schuylerville on the south. Instead of three extremely 
feel)le missionary stations, there are eight organized parishes, eight clergymen 



\ 



THE CHURCHES. 253 

of the three parishes. Some little time previously to this event 
the Rev. Mr. Spooner had removed to Fort Edward, where, for 
two or three years, his indefatigable energies, found occupation 
in the management of a parish school, the purchase of a very 
desirable plot of ground, and the erection of a substantial church 
edifice. In the report of the missionary committee for the same 
year, the Rev. S. B. Bostwick, is stated to have the charge of 
the parish at Glen's Falls. 

In pursuance of the plan already indicated, Mr. Bostwick 
made his home at Sandy Hill, and there commenced the instruc- 
tion of a classical school, which was maintained for a period of 
nearly twenty years, with a wide spread repute for superior 
excellence and usefulness. Its instrumentality for good, wnll 
doubtless be a comfort and consolation, to this most amiable 
pastor and teacher during his declining years ; and the conscious- 
ness of such life long devotion to his master's work, may well 
serve to illuminate the valley of dark shadows, in his journey 
across to the better land. 

The school previously established by Mr. Spooner at South 
Glen's Falls, passed at the same time, into the hands of the Rev. 
Henry McVickar, (a) a young gentleman, just admitted to orders, 

are serving them, ten new churches have been built, and another is in progress, 
■while many other points in the field, are furnished with occasional services. Seven 
young men, now, or heretofore connected with my two parishes, have entered upon 
a preparation for the sacred ministry, two of whom are already ordained. Four 
faithful women have gone to the missionary field, one to China, one to the Sand- 
wich Islands, and two to the Western Indians. As time wears on, and the end 
approaches, I cannot be suificiently thankful that the Lord has called me to labor 
in his vineyard, and that He has given me some tokens of his favor to encourage 
me in the arduous work." 

(a) HENRy McVickar, son of the late professor John McVickar of Columbia Col- 
lege, N. Y. , was born at Hyde Park in Dutchessco., N. Y., in 1817. He graduated with 
honors from Columbia College in 1836. He studied law, and was admitted to the 
bar in 1840, after a year spent in travel in Europe and the East. For a brief period 
he practiced law in New York, and afterward in Michigan. His earnest, and de- 
vout mind, however, was not contented outside of the ministry, and he returned 
once more to New York, and entered the Theological Seminary. He became an 
alumnus of that institution, was ordained by the Right Rev. Bishop McCoskry in 
1846, and, at once went to Glen's Falls, and engaged heartily and zealously in 
the laborious missionary work of that neighborhood. During his brief stay at this 
point, he instituted services at Caldwell, Lake George, and founded the church at 
Warrensburgh, besides being continually engaged in the exhaustive labors inci- 
dent to the instruction of a parish school. The severe climate, and earnest zeal in 
the discharge of his duties, broke down his health, and laid the foundation of a 
pulmonary affection from which he never recovered. At the termination of his 
year in Glen's Falls, he went to the south, and spent two winters, doing missionary 



254 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

fresh from the schools; and of singular loveliness of character, 
whose purity of life and Christian deportment, have embalmed 
his memory with the odor of sanctity, in the hearts of his par- 
ishioners. 

The school was conducted with great acceptance and gave 
promise at one time of obtaining a permanent foundation. 

The services in the three parishes, were held alternately by 
the three clergymen associated in the mission. As an evidence 
of their devotion to the work, it may be stated that this labo- 
rious interchange of duties was mainly performed on foot, and 
often at unpropitious seasons and in inclement weather. 

The relations subsisting between the three parishes, continued 
until the spring of 1847, when the Sandy Hill and Fort Edward 
churches dissolved their connection with that at Glen's Falls, 
and extended a call to the Rev. S. B. Bostwick to become their 
pastor. For nearly a quarter of a century, he has retained this 
charge, with the unabated respect and afiection of his people. 

The same year (1847), the Rev. John A. Spooner is returned 
in the records of the convention, as rector of St. Luke's church 
Mechanicsville, and the joint missionary station of Glen's Falls 
and Luzerne is reported as vacant. 

Notwithstanding this rectorship at Mechanicsville, and his 
subsequent charge of Grace church in Albany, Mr. Spooner re- 
tained a quasi relation and charge over this virtually vacant 
parish, until the month of September, 1851, when he formally 
tendered his resignation, which was accepted by the vestry. 

work in Florida, and North Carolina, founding the church at Marianna in the 
former diocese, and devoting himself especially to the improvement of the blacks. 
Ha\'ing at last become the undoubted prey of consumption, he returned to the 
north, and passed the last two years of his wasting life amidst the surroundings 
of home, and the sustaining presence of loving friends. Even then he was not 
idle, but was systematically engaged in study, and the writing of tracts, essays, 
and articles for the church publications of the day. 

He died at Morristown, N. J., in 1852, beloved and lamented by a wide circle 
of friends and acquaintances. 

One writing from the south, who had lived in the same house, and known him 
all one winter, says in a letter of condolence to his friends, " it was my good for- 
tune to know your departed brother, the Rev. Henry McVickar, whom to know 
was but to love ; and although 1 have known many saintly characters, many pure 
and holy ones of this earth, still, 1 have always thought, since I learned to know 
him, that I have never met one so holy, so free from gross alloy, so meet for 
Heaven." This estimate of his character, will doubtless meet the hearty con- 
currence and apprcA-al of the few now remaining, who remember the modest, un- 
assuming, yet gifted messenger of Christ's gospel, who once ministered at Glen's 
Falls. 



THE CHURCHES. 255 

On Easter Monday (12th April), 1852, the Rev. Mr. Bostwick, 
by invitation, officiated at morning prayers in the chapel, and, 
due notice having been previously given, a new election, the 
first for six years, was held for wardens and vestrymen. 

On the 18th of May following, a vestry meeting was convened, 
at which, it was " resolved that the Rev. William George Haw- 
kins be engaged as minister of this parish for the ensuing year,*' 
at a salary of three hundred dollars a year, and a donation, in 
addition to the missionary stipend. 

When the connection between the Rev. Mr. Spoonerand this 
parish was discontinued, he declined to surrender the possession 
of the chapel, and other church property, on the score of arrear- 
ages of salary. The congregation was consequently obliged to 
look elsewhere for a place of worship. This state of affairs re- 
sulted in hiring, for the time being, the use of the house of 
worship, belonging to the Universalists, a building since de- 
stroyed in the great fire of 1864, and which then stood on a plot 
of ground now owned and occupied by Judge Rosekrans, facing 
Warren street. 

Legal proceedings were promptly instituted by the vestry, for 
the recovery and possession of the church property. The points 
in controversy were finally referred to the Hon. Alonzo C. 
Paige of Schenectady, and his decision, which was rendered in 
June, 1853, and which was final as regarded further litigation, 
was substantially in favor of the parish. During the same season 
the old chapel was repaired and in the autumn following, and 
until Mr. Hawkins's connection with the parish ceased, the ser- 
vices were continuously held therein. 

Mr. Hawkins (a) remained in charge of the parish until the first 
of December, 1855. During that period of time, the chapel 

(a) William George Hawkins, only son of John H. W. Hawkins, the celebrated 
Washingtonian, and temperance reformer, was born at Baltimore, Md., on the 32d 
of October, 1823. His mother's name was Rachel, daughter of Joseph Thompson 
of the same city. The wonderful conversion of his father in 1840, to a life of great 
usefulness, changed the son's whole course in life from the career of an errand boy 
in a grocery and liquor store, to a student at the Wesleyan Academy at Wilbraham, 
Mass., where, with his two (only) sisters he matriculated in 1843. He entered 
the Wesleyan University at Middletown, Conn. (Dr. Stephen Olin, pres't), in 1844, 
and graduated therefrom in 1848. In the fall of the same year, he entered the 
Theological Seminary of the Episcopal church in Fairfax co., Va., over which 
Bishop Meade, of that diocese, had the principal oversight. Having completed a 
three years' course at that institution, he was ordained deacon by Bishop Meade, 
and called in 1851 to the rectorship of St. Paul's church, Centreville, Md. By rea- 
son of a failure in his health, he determined to seek an engagement at the north 



256 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OP QUEENSBURY. 

was repaired, a church lot contracted for, aod secured, and the 
work of building the new church commenced. The corner 
stone of this substantial and costly structure was laid on Monday, 
the 12th of June, 1854, by the Right Rev. Jonathan M. Wain- 
wright, bishop of the diocese. Bishop Otey, of Tennessee, being 
present and delivering an address on the occasion. In this time, 
Mr. Hawkins made two extended visitations to the larger cities 
of the diocese, in solicitation of funds, with which to carry for- 
ward the church work. In this way, several thousand dollars 
were realized, with which to strengthen the slender resources 
of the parish. This laborious enterprise, which had been under- 
taken by Mr. Hawkins in addition to the ordinary parochial 
work, added to the arduous responsibilities of the school, 
which, under his management, speedily attained a magnitude 



and in the fall of 1852, was appointed by the ecclesiastical authority of the diocese 
of New York, to the charge of the parish at Glen's Falls. 

In August, 1856, he was called to St. John's church, Pequa, Lancaster co.. Pa., 
where he continued teaching ^\ith success an English and Classical school for 
boys, similar to the one conducted at South Glen's Falls. On the death of his 
father at his residence in Pequa, Pa., in August, 1858, he removed to Cambridge, 
Mass., where he devoted some months to writing out the life of that distinguished 
advocate of temperance. This work has already passed through seven editions. 
In 1860, he was called to the charge of St. John's church, Wilkinsonville ; in 
1863, wrote the Life of Linsford Lane, or Another Helper from North Carolina, 
(304 pp. 2000 vols., sold). Removed about the same time to Worcester, Mass., to 
take the general charge of the missionary work of the diocese of Massachusetts, 
established three new parishes all at present doing well, viz : Christ church, Fitch- 
burg, Trinity church, Milford, and Grace church, Oxford, Mass. In 1864, he was called 
to the secretaryship of the National Freedman's Relief Association, and in that 
connection projected and edited for three years its organ The National Freed- 
man, was also a working member of the committee on teachers and publications, 
and during the above three years, selected and sent into the South over three 
hundred teachers, male and female ; organized under his own personal supervision 
the graded schools at Washington, D. C, Norfolk, Va., Richmond, Va. , and Raleigh, 
N. C, and wrote a brief history of the Freedman's Commission, of which 20,000 
copies were circulated as a tract. In 1865 removed to an estate at Rippon Hall, York 
co.,'Va., which was purcliased and presented by personal friends. Here he resided 
for sixteen months during which interval, he was appointed Registrar of Froedmen, 
of the 3d district of York co. , by Major Gen. Schofield, the registration office being- 
at Fort McG ruder. 

In April, 1868, he removed to Chambcrsburgh, Pa. , where he organized Trinity 
church, purchased a parsonage and lots, and erected a church, (a stone gothic edi. 
fice) at an aggregate cost of about $18,000. To this, it is in contemplation to add 
a female seminary as soon as means and opportunity shall permit. 

The Rev. Mr. Hawkins is still in the prime and vigor of an activ.e manhood, 
whose energetic usefulness gives promise of a long future, replete with the mani- 
fold works of a matured j iidgment, sustained and incited by a Christain thoughtful- 
ness for the welfare of others and the progress of Divine truth. 



THE CHURCHES. 257 

and prosperity both flattering and remunerative, bears cumu- 
lative testimony both to Mr. Hawkins's efficiency as a pastor, 
and devotion to the work in which he was engaged. 

About this time Mr. James E. Kenney, a resident of this place, 
and communicant of the church, commenced studying for the 
ministry with Mr. Hawkins, being also associated with him in 
the instruction and management of the school. 

Early in the fall of 1855, Mr. Hawkins tendered his resigna- 
tion, to take effect on the first of December following. This 
was accepted by the vestry on the 14th of September. The 
interim was passed in negotiations which resulted in the call of 
the Rev. Louis Legrand ]Sroble,(a) a clergyman of distinguished 
talents and ability. He assumed charge of the parish, about 
the first of January, 1856. At that time, work had been sus- 
pended on the new church building, the walls having been 
carried up a short distance only above the basement story. 

Heavy debts had been incurred in the prosecution of this un- 
dertaking. These remained like an incubus upon the feeble 
parish, paralyzing all efforts. Through Mr. Noble's active per- 
sonal solicitations, chiefly made in New York city, the greater 
portion of these debts were liquidated, or means and methods 



(a) " The Rev. Louis Legrand Noble was born in 1813 in the valley of the Butter- 
nut creek in Otsego county, in New York. While he was a youth his father removed 
to the banks of the Wacamutquiock, now called the Huron, a small river in Michi- 
gan, and there, among scenes of remarkable wildness and beauty, he passed most of 
his time until the commencement of his college life. In a letter to me, he saya : 
' I was ever under a strong impulse to imbody'iu language my thoughts, feelings, 
fancies, as they sprang up in the presence of the rude but beautiful things around 
me ; the prairies on fire, the sparkling lakes, the park-like forests, the Indians on ■ 
the hunt, guiding their frail canoes amid the rapids, or standing at night in the 
red light of their festival fires, I breathed the air of poetry.' 

" Mr. Noble was admitted to orders in the Protestant Episcopal church, in 1840. 
His principal poetical work is Ne-mah-min, an Indian story, in three cantos, in 
which he has made good use of his experience of forest life." 

The foregoing is copied from Griswold's Poets and Poetry of America, written 
nearly thirty years ago. Since that time, Mr. Noble has committed several volumes 
to the press, both of poetry and prose. Among the number may be named The 
Life of Cole the Artist, a friend and companion of his early years. Mr. Noble is 
now stationed at Hudson, N. J., where for a number of years he has been in charge 
of the Episcopal church, beloved by his parishioners and honored, and respected 
by an extensive circle of friends and acquaintances. He is a most genial friend 
and companion, a powerful writer, and impassioned sermonizer, emotional and 
impressive, quick to arouse the sympathies and touch the hearts of his auditory, 
and judging from probabilities, has still a long career of usefulness, and Christian 
influence before him. 

33 



* 258 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURT. 

provided for their extinguishment during the short period of 
his incumbency. Trinity church, alone, contributed two thou- 
sand dollars at this time, taking a lien upon the church for 
security, with a view to ensure its perpetuity, and that the bene- 
faction should not be diverted to other uses. 

The dilapidated condition of the old chapel, rendered it im- 
peratively necessary that it should be thoroughly overhauled 
and repaired. A new roof was put on, the walls papered, the 
seats and other wood work painted, and other necessary repairs 
effected. In the mean time, before this renovation was com- 
pleted, the Universalist church was again rented for another year, 
and the services were conducted therein, until the condition of 
the chapel, improved by the repairs above named, was such that 
the congregation was enabled to resume its devotions there, and 
from that time forward until the completion of the new church, 
and the sale of the old one, the services were held with but slight 
interruption, in this revered and time honored place. 

The cost of these repairs was defrayed by the Ladies' Aid 
Society of the church, to whose self sacrificing efforts and labor- ' 
ious zeal, much of the success of the church enterprises in this 
parish have been due. During a period of about fifteen years, 
dating from the reorganization of the church in 1852, an ener- 
getic and devoted band of women, scarcely a dozen in number, 
but brave with a spirit of Christian devotion, earned in various 
ways of hard working industry, a sum amounting to nearly, if 
not quite five thousand dollars, which whenever, and whatever 
the financial pinch might be, was always promptly available, 
and forthcoming to meet the needs of the pastor, the vestry, or 
the church, whenever a call was made or the occasion demanded. 
Deficiencies in ministers' salaries, repairs of chapel, delinquent 
bank notes given by the building committee for work or mate- 
rial, and finally a large amount expended in finishing the in- 
terior of the new church, were among the channels of usefulness, 
to which this steady and unfailing stream of endeavor was 
applied A passing tribute to the worth and excellence of these 
Christian women, is without doubt worthy of commemoration 
in the annals of the church they helped to build. During the 
greater proportion of the period of Mr. Noble's ministrations 
here, and, at his request, the Rev. John H. Babcock, a minister 
of the church, who was at the same time principal of the Glen's 
Falls Academy, was called by the vestry to the position of as- 



THE CHURCHES. 259 

sistant minister of the parish. In this capacity, he aided the 
rector in his services, besides officiating as missionary in visit- 
ing, and conducting worship at several contiguous points. 

Messrs. !N"oble, and Babcock, (a) terminated their connection 
with the parish by resignation in June, 1857. In their brief 
tarrying here, each of these efficient ministers and accompUshed 
gentlemen, won for themselves a large measure of' the esteem 
and attachment of the people. 

Nearly a year elapsed before the parish was again regularly 
supplied, occasional services being held by Rev. Mr. Kenney, 
who had just been admitted to the diaconate, and other neigh- 
boring clergyman. In the mean time, negotiations were carried 
forward with the bishop, and the missionary committee of the 
diocese, with a view to secure the services of another pastor. 
This correspondence resulted in the call, and engagement, of 
the Rev. Henry H. Bates, of the diocese of Connecticut, who 
removed hither with his family, and commenced his pastoral 
duties on the first of May, 1858. For a term of three years, his 
fidelity to the trusts thus assumed, his discretion and judgment, 
and Christain forbearance and charity, conspired to place the 
church on a prosperous footing, and to secure for himself the 
cordial good will, and respect of the entire community. During 
his pastorate, another subscription was raised, the balance of 
indebtedness cleared off", and the walls of the church carried up 
a stage further towards completion. 

On the 7th of June, 1859, the Rev. James E. Kenney, who 
had already served the church during its period of destitution, 
was called by the vestry to act as assistant minister of the parish 
without salary, his only compensation for his services being the 
missionary stipend. The balance of his support was derived 
from the maintenance of the English and Classical school on the 

(a) The Rev. John H. Babcock,'M. A. , the third son of Deodatus Babcock, D. D. , 
and Mary, {nee Hine) his wife, was born at Ballston Spa, N. Y., 11th Aug., 1826. 
He passed three years of an academical course under the supervision of the Rev. 
Dr. Hawks, at St. Thomas' Hall, Flushing, L. I. Graduated at Union College, July 
1845, was ordained to the diaconate in 1853. Assisted his father, as a teacher in 
the Ballston Spa Institute, from 1846 to 1856, received to the priesthood the latter 
year. Took charge of the Glen's Falls Academy from May, 1856, to August, 1857, 
principal of Cheshire Academy, Conn., from Sept., 1857, to Sept., 1861 : Principal 
of Yeates Institute, Lancaster, Penn., from Sept., 1862, to April, 1864 ; missionary 
in Minnesota, and Wisconsin, Oct., 1864, to Sept., 1867.. Since then he has been 
engaged in teaching or ministerial work in the state of New York. Since May 
ist, 1871, he has been occupied in parish work in Tioga co., Penn., where he is 
now located. 



260 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

south side of the river already spoken of, in connection with 
Mr. Hawkins's ministrations.' During tlie greater portion of 
Mr. Bates's sojourn here, this parish was associated with the 
missionary station of St. James' church, Caldwell, and the Rev. 
Mr. Kenney contributed largely of his valuable aid in main- 
taining the mission services. In 1860, the chapel was once more 
repaired, papered and painted. The same year, the building 
committee reported to the vestry, " that but little had been done 
towards completing the new church building." 

Early in the spring of 1861, the church at Caldwell signified 
its intention of severing the connection hitherto maintained 
with this parish, and, for a while afterward, it was associated 
with the church at Warreusburgh in the employment of a 
clergyman. 

Upon the outbreak of the rebellion in 1861, the Rev. Mr. 
Bates (a) was oftered, and finally accepted the position of chaplain 

■ " The present incumbent took the charge of this congregation, on the first week 
in May ; previous to which time, for the conventional year, the services were con- 
ducted by the Rev. James Kenney, deacon, who has also, for several months past, 
rendered us aid in our services in St. James' parish, Caldwell, and for the most 
part without compensation. — Extracts from Rev. H. H. Bates's report. Journal of 
Diocesan Convention, for 1858. 

(a) Henry H. Bates was born in the town of Benson, Rutland co., Vt., on the 
23d November, 1808. Here in the secluded quiet of a rural neighborhood, with 
scant advantages in the way of education or mental culture, he passed his child- 
hood and youth. Stirred by those brave impulses which seem to germinate with 
uncommon thrift in the Yankee breast, at his majority he pushed out to acquire 
an education, and fit himself for the great, earnest struggle of life. 

His preparatory studies were pursued mainly at the Phillips' Academy, Andover, 
Mass. Of the difficulties he had to surmount, and the trials and struggles to 
which he was subjected in those early days, we get only a brief hint. His colle- 
giate course was commenced in 1832, at Union College, Schenectady, and ter- 
minated in 1836, graduating with honor. Two years of his theological course were 
spent at the General Theological Seminary New York. The third year of his 
divinity studies was completed at Northampton, Mass. He was admitted to dea- 
con's orders in the city of Boston, Mass., in 1839, being ordained by the Rt. Rev. 
Alexander Viets Griswold, bishop of what was styled the eastern diocese. 

Mr. Bates's ministerial career was commenced immediately afterward, at Blan- 
ford, Hampden co., Mass., where, in 1841, he was ordained to the priesthood by 
the same venerable prelate. In 1840, he was married to Miss Eunice S. Bascom of 
Orwell, Vt., by whom he had two sons and one daughter. 

In 1844, he received a call, and removed to Warehouse Point, Hartford co.. 
Conn., where he rapidly built a thriving parish, and large congregation, by his 
industry, zeal and tact, many still living bearing witness to his faithfulness and 
efficiency. 

In 1852, he removed to TarriflFville, in the same county, and state, where he 
bviilt up another new parish, in the heart of a manufacturing village, whose chief 
population consisted of laborers and operatives. In this respect, his success was 



THE CHURCHES. 261 

of the 22d Reg't N". Y. Vols., three companies of which were 
raised in this vicinity. The regiment was commanded by Walter 
Phelps jr., a parishioner and member of the vestry. 

During the autumn next ensuing, services were held for six 
or eight weeks by a Rev. Mr. Van Antwerp, a candidate for the 
vacant pulpit. His irregularities of conduct were such as would 
reflect little credit to himself or honor upon the church, and he 
was at length quietly got rid of. He was subsequently deposed 
from the ministry, for conduct debasing, and unworthy his 
sacred calling. 

In view of the destitute condition of the church, and, in order 
that the vestry might in no degree be hampered by the nominal 
relations existing between them, Mr. Bates tendered his resig- 
nation of the parish here, while the regiment to which he was 
attached, was still in barracks at Albany. This was brought 
before the congregation, at a special meeting convened on the 

so striking, that when, in the winter of '57-8 applications was made to the mis- 
sionary committee of the diocese for a recommendation of some clergyman suited 
to the wants of this parish, the name of Mr. Bates was promptly suggested and 
heartily endorsed by the bishop, as the man preeminently fitted for the place if 
his services could be secured. 

Mr. Bates assumed the rectorship of this parish in May, 1858, and from that 
date, until May, 1861 ; he was assiduously, earnestly, and industriouslj^ devoted to 
the interests of the parish. A large debt which had been incurred in carrying up 
the walls of the present church edifice, was paid off, and the way thoroughly 
cleared for the completion of the building at a more favorable moment. The 
financial crisis of '57, had but just passed by, and this, like many other manufac- 
turing villages, had its energies paralyzed and its industries crippled to that ex- 
tent, that, for the time being, an attempt to complete the church would have been 
impolitic and injudicious. 

During Mr. Bates's ministry here, the accessions to the church were numerous, 
and its prospects flourishing. While in the midst of his success, looked up to, 
and beloved on every hand, the nation was suddenly convulsed with the throes 
of civil war. Sumter was attacked, and simultaneously, the united North arose 
as one man to the defense, the maintenance, the salvation of our government. 

In response to the call for troops the 32d Regt. N. Y. Vols., sprung into ex- 
istence, and within two weeks of its organization the chaplaincy was tendered to, 
and accepted by Mr. Bates. 

Throwing aside all questions of ease and personal comfort, he went forward to 
the field with the regiment, and from that time until it was mustered out at 
Albany, Mr. Bates probably passed more time with the regiment and participated 
more thoroughly in its vicissitudes and hardships and dangers, than any other 
oificer either field, line or staff. It is not my purpose in this place, to recapitulate 
the deeds and sufferings of the 23d Regiment, but it may be appropriately stated , 
that many of its survivors from the fields of Gainesville, 2d Bull Run, South 
Mountain, Antietam, Fredericsburg and Chancellorsville, have reason to remember 
with gratitude, the kindness and attention, the indefatigable labors, and earnest 
devotion of their chaplan, while in camp and quarters, Ther e was not a day but 



262 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

9th of Jane, 1861, on which occasion, a series of resolutions was 
adopted, expressing in handsome terms, its- appreciation of Mr. 
Bates's services and patriotism, but declining for the present to 
act upon his proposition. 

This resignation was renewed, and accepted in June, the fol- 
lowing year, and on the 12th of July, 1862, the Rev. Edwin E. 
Butler, was called to the vacancy, and remained uninterruptedly 
in charge to July, 1871, at which time his resignation was ac- 
cepted. During two or three years of this period, the Rev. J. 
A. Russell, a presbyter of the church, being at the time principal 
of the Glen's Falls Academy, occasionally officiated in the 
absence of the rector, and in a few instances on other occasions, 
assisted in the ministrations. In the journal of the convention 
for 1863, Mr. Butler reports that the " stone church commenced 
in 1854, is nearly completed. * * * Within the 
past six months, the parish has raised the sum of $6,500 for its 
completion." Nevertheless, the work crept along as it were at 
a snail's pace. The church was but little more than enclosed 
at this time; and it remained for nearly two years longer in an 
unoccupied state. 

Over eleven years had now elapsed since the ground was 
broken and work commenced. Through the active exertions 
of the building committee in the fall of 1865, a vigorous and 
finally successful movement was instituted to complete the build- 
ing. Fresh subscriptions were made, the contract taken, and 
the work rapidly pushed forward to its consummation. The 
first service conducted in the new edifice was the marriage of 



what he was busy in some genial act of charity, writing letters for the boys, visit- 
ing the sick in hospital, sending money home to the waiting wives, and a thousand 
nameless acts of goodness, scarcely appreciated at the time, but which contribute 
largely to make up the Christi,an life. 

The remains of the 23d Regiment were mustered out at Albany on .the 17th of 
June, 1863, and Mr. Bates returned to the quiet walks of his ministerial duties in 
civil life. 

Through his patriotism he had lost his parish here, but another opening very 
speedily presented. For in the month of July following, he assumed the rector- 
sliip of St. Paul's church, Oak Hill, Greene co., N. Y., where he remained until 
the time of his death, which occurred on the 14th of January, 1868. His final ill- 
ness was brief, but little more than a week elapsing from the date of his attack to 
the time of his death, although his liealth had been giving away for the last two 
or three months of his life. His last sermon was preached on Christmas day, up 
to which time he had i^erformed all his parochial and ministerial duties in full, 
and thus, with his armor on, almost to the very verge of life, he passed away to 
his reward. 



THE CHURCHES. 263 

Mr. James "W. Schenck, one of the building committee, and 
vestrj. 

The church was formally consecrated in June, 1866, by the 
Rt. Rev. Horatio Potter, bishop of the diocese, assisted by a 
large number of visiting and neighboring clergy. 

In 1867, a committee was appointed at the diocesan conven- 
tion, which reported in favor of a division of the diocese. The 
following year the preliminary steps were taken, and the act of 
separation finally consummated, by which the diocese of Albany, 
was erected. It is greatly hoped that this act will work salutary 
results for the smaller and feebler parishes. 

On the 29th of May, 1869, the Hon. Stephen Brown, in be- 
half of the executors of the estate of John J. Harris, deceased, 
oft'ered the vestry a deed of gift of a fine stone chapel, situated 
near his late residence at Harrisena, in the north part of Queens- 
bury. This structure was built up in great degree of the 
beautiful Ottawa limestone, imported by the founder, specially 
for the purpose, from Canada. 

Its erection and completion was one of the last acts of the 
testator's life ; his funeral the first service held within its walls. 
(Sunday, March 14th, 1869.) 

On the 3d of July following, the gift was formally accepted 
by a vote of the vestry. Six days later the building was conse- 
crated by the bishop of the diocese, several of the neighboring 
clergyman being present and assisting in the ceremonial. Since 
that date up to the first of July, 1871, services have been held 
regularly during the summer months on every alternate Sunday 
afternoon, in this little chapel, by the rector in charge of the 
church at Glen's Falls. 

On the 17th of July, 1869, the vestry passed a vote relinquish- 
ing the missionary stipend, of which this parish had been nearly 
a constant beneficiary from the beginning ; and in addition to 
which, large appropriations have been received from time to 
time from the Parochial Aid Society, and the Northern Con- 
vocation, for the maintenance of the services. 

Thus for the first time, during all these years, and without 
any appreciable increase in the wealth, resources or membership, 
the church became self supporting; and though still feeble, and 
weak, yet with a substantial if not attractive church edifice, and 
no debt to hamper or impair its energies, it is to be hoped that 
its clay of grace and prosperity is not now far removed. 



264 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

The statistics of the church will be found annexed in a tabu- 
lated form. 

Supplementary to the foregoing, which was written some 
years since, the writer considers it proper to add that Rev. Mr. 
Butler's relations to the parish were dissolved by his resignation 
on the 20th of June, 1871, taking effect on the first of July 
following. For two years, the church languished without a 
pastor. Occasional services were held by neighboring and visit- 
ing clergymen. An attempt was made in the fall and winter 
of 1872 to establish lay services. Through the kindness and 
laborious efforts of the Rev. Mr. Cookson of Fort Edward, lenten 
services were held in the spring of 1873, and two were con- 
firmed at the bishop's next visitation. 

During all this period, negotiations, more or less actively 
prosecuted, were in progress with various clergymen to till the 
vacant pulpit. The vestry were critical, and the outlook in a 
run down parish, with a people difficult to please, was not so 
enticing to the clergy, that there was much of a scramble for 
the vacant pulpit. At length, however, the man for the place 
was found, and a formal call was made and accepted by the 
Rev. Russell A. Olin(a) of Manlius, Onondaga co., N. Y., who 

(a) Russell A. Olin was born in the town of Madrid, St. Lawrence county, 
N. Y., on the 22d of January, 1839. 

His mother died when he was but three years of age. His father followed the 
pursuit of farming. When the subject of this sketch was nine years of age his 
father married again, after which, the child sojourned awhile with relations in the 
adjoining town of Canton, finding his home with various connections and friends 
in the vicinity, up to his twentieth year. From his thirteenth year, he taught in 
the district schools, and the village academy, winters, working at farm labor, or 
attending school, during the summers, until the fall of 1859, when he entered 
Brown University, Providence, R. I. Here he remained for nearly two years, when 
he left college for a while to teach. For a few months following, he held an 
appointment as tutor in a private family. Succeeding this engagement, he was 
induced to accept a position as teacher of mathematics in Burlington College, New 
Jersey, which he held for nearly two years. In the summer of 1863, he enlisted as a 
private in the 15th Pennsylvania Cavalry, a regiment, esteemed in Philadelphia, 
much as the seventh is in New York city. He was in active service in Kentucky 
and Tennessee, participating in the battle of Stone River, Dec. 30, Jan. 1st, 1863. 
After this, in consequence of ill health, he was detailed for light duty at Brigade 
head quarters in Nashville, and for the same reason, was discharged from the ser- 
vice during the following month. 

Having recovered sufficiently to admit of resuming his studies, he entered Ho- 
bart College the following May, last term sophomore, and graduated with first 
honor, in July, 1865. Became candidate for holy orders in the Protestant Episcopal 
church. While studying for the ministry, he held the position of first assistant 
teacher in De Veaux College for boys. Suspension Bridge, N. Y. 



THE CHURCHES. 265 

came in the early summer of 1873, and removed with his family 
to the parish, in the early part of July following. Since then, 
the services of the church have been systematically and regu- 
larly conducted, and services established with steadily increasing 
congregations, across the river at South Glen's Falls, and at the 
chapel in Harrisena. At the first confirmation held during his 
incumbency, in March, 1874, a class of twenty-seven was added 
to the church, the largest number ever received into its fold, 
at any one time since the parish was organized. 

Wardens. 

Adsit, Aruaah M. jr., 1867,* 8, 9, Holden, Austin W., 1854, 5, 6, 7, 

70, 1. 8, 9, 60, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. 

Beach, Jotn, 1842, 3, 4, 5. Hopkins, Heman K., 1852. 

Bolles, George F., 1862, 8, 4, 5. Martin, Henry, 1842, 3, 4, 5. 

Carter, William C, 1840, 1. Martin, John H., 1846, 7, 52, 3, 4, 

Davis, Henry L., 1853. 5, 6. 

Finch, Jeremiah W., 1867,* 8, 9, 70, Mills, John, 1846, 7. 

1. Schenck, James W. jr., 1857. 

Harris, John J., 1858, 9, 60, 1. Sheldon, N. Edson, 1840, 1. 

Hathaway, George F., 1865,* 6, 7. 



He was ordained deacon, June 16th, 1867. Continued Ms theological studies 
for another year, holding an adjunct professorship of Latin in Hobart College. 

Was assigned charge of the parish of St. James' church, Clinton, Oneida county, 
N. Y., and entered upon its duties in the July following. Was married 16th 
September, 1868, ordained presbji;er 3d June, 1869, was appointed head master 
of St. John's school for boys in Manlius, Onondaga county, N. Y., in January, 1871, 
where he remained for something more than two years. In July, 1873, he re- 
turned to parish life, by accepting the rectorship of the church of the Messiah at 
Glen's Falls. 

Since coming here, although the period of his relation with the church has 
been comparatively brief, he has greatly endeared himself to his congregation 
whose numbers are constantly increasing. Of genial disposition, fine presence, 
and high culture, he has the indescribable faculty of winning friends, and adhe- 
rents in every walk of life. His duties, arduous and exhaustive, are discharged 
with punctilious fidelity, and he takes rank with the most active and zealous priests 
of the diocese. A fluent, offhand speaker, a close reasoner, an impassioned ad- 
vocate, he is, slowly perhaps, but surely bringing the church up to its normal 
standard and level in the estimation of the community, and there is but one voice 
in the parish in regard to his usefulness, ability, and worth. 

*To fill vacancy. 



34 



266 



HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 



Vestrymen. 



Adsit, Arunah M. jr., 1866 * 7. 
Arms, Lewis L., 1853,* 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 

9, 60, 1,2,3,4,5, 6,7. 
Bass, William B., 1844, 5, 6, 7, 52, 

3, 4, 5. 
Bassinger, George H., 1870, 1. 
Beach, Charles H., 1842, 3, 4, 5, 6. 
Beach, Titus, 1842, 3. 
Blackwell, 1846, 7. 
Butler, Benjamin C, 1852, 3, 8, 9. 
Cadwell, James E., 1852,* 67, 8, 9, 

70,1. 
Chambers, Christopher, 1866.* 
Cool, Alvin F.,1852. 
Cool, Hiram M., 1852, 3, 9, 62, 3, 

4. 
Cool, Hyman J., 1853, 4, 5. 
Cool, Keyes P., 1840, 1. 
Cromwell, Dr. James, 1853. 
Curtis, George, 1864, 5. 
Davis, Henry L., 1844, 5, 6, 7. 
Davis, Isaac J., 1859, 66,* 7, 8, 9. 
Dix, James L., 1858. 
Elliott, Henry, 1842. 
Ferriss, Orange, 1840, 1, 60, 1, 2, 

3, 4, 5, 6, 7. 
Finch, Jeremiah W., 1865, 6, 7. 
Geer, Walter jr., 1840,1. 
Harris, Hiram M., 1859,* 61. 
Haviland, Roger F, 1867,* 8. 
Hitchcock, Adolphus F., 1842,3, 4. 
Holden, Austin W., 1842, 3, 4, 5, 

6,7. 
Holdredge, Sylvester W., 1858. 
Hopkins, Heman K., 1842, 3, 4, 5, 

6, 7, 53,* 4.* 
Hopkins, Stephen D., 1868, 9, 70, 1. 



Mabbett, Truman G., 1855,* 6, 7, 9 

60, 1, 2, 3, 4. 
McDonald, Leonard G., 1857, 8, 9, 

60, 1, 7, 8, 9, 70, 1. 
McDonald, William, 1840, 1. 
Martin, James E., 1852. 
Martin, John H., 1842, 3, 4. 
Phelps, Walter jr., 1852, 3, 4, 5, 6, 

7, 8, 9, 60, 1, 2, 3. 
Philo, Henry, 1840, 1. 

Piatt, Samuel R., 1842, 3, 4, 5. 
Ranger, Frederic E., 1859. 
Roberts, Charles, 1862, 5, 6. 
Roberts, Hiram, 1«58, 9. 
Roberts, L. Q. C, 1848, 5, 7. 
Robinson, Frederic W., 1852, 3, 4. 

5,6,7,67,8, 
Rockwell, Hiram, 1871. 
Rogers, Halsey, 1841. 
Sanford, George, 1840. 
Schenck, James W., 1853, 4, 5,* 6. 

8, 9, 60, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. 
Schenck, James W. jr., 1860, 5, 6, 
Sheldon, Nehemiah, 1840, 1. 
Smith, Frederic, 1855. 

Smith, John, 1856,7, 9, 60, 1, 2,3, 

4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 70. 
Somers, John, 1854, 5. 
Steiner, David C, 1869, 70, 1. 
Stevens, John D., 1867,* 8, 9, 70, 1, 
Thomson, Charles, 1854, 5, 6, 7. 

Tucker, Dr. , 1846, 7. 

Vanbenthuysen, John H., 1857 
Wait, William A., 1863, 4, 5, 6, 7, 

8, 9, 70, 1. 
Wing, Abraham, 1840, 1. 



*To fill vacaucy. 



THE CHURCHES. 267 



Clerks. 

Beach, Charles H., 1842, 3. Holden, Austin W., 1844, 5, 53, 4, 

Bolles; George F., 1862, 3, 4, 5. 9, 60. 

Butler, Benjamin C, 1852. Ranger, Frederic E., 1856, 7, 8. 

Carter, William C, 1840, 1. Schenck, James W. jr., 1861, 5,* 6. 

Wait, William A., 1867, 8, 70, 1. 

Collectors. 

Bolles, George F., 1863, 4, 5. Holdredge, Sylvester W., 1858. 

Butler, Benjamin C, 1852. Hopkins, Stephen D., 1867, 8, 9. 

Creeley, George, 1854. Mabbett, Truman G., 1862. 

Davis, Isaac J., 1856, 7. Noble, John T., 1853. 

Holden, Austin W., 1843, 4, 59, 60, Stevens, J. D., 1870, 1. 
1, 5,* 6. 

Building Committee. 
Arms, Lewis L., ^ 

Ferriss, Orange, >The original committee, reelected May 11, 1863. 

Schenck, James W., J 

Roberts, Hiram, added to the committee by vote of vestry, 20th May, '63. 
Curtis, George, elected 5th May, 1865, vice Roberts deceased. 
Finch, J. W., added to the committee 22d May, 1865. 

Treasurers. 

Alden, John, 1859, 60, 2. Thomson, Charles, 1854, 5, 6, 7. 

Bellamy, Charles, 1861. Wait, William A., 1863, 4, 5, 6, 7, 

Ranger, Frederic E., 1858. 8, 70, 1. 

Delegates to Diocesan Convention. 

Adsit, Arunah M. jr., 1868, 70. Ferriss, Orange, 1859. 

Arms, Lewis L., 1861, 3. Finch, Jeremiah W., 1867, 8, 9, 70. 

Beach, Charles H., 1843, 4. Holden, Austin W., 1845, 6, 7, 53, 

Butler, Benjamin C, 1852, 3,9. 4, 5, 6, 8, 60. 

Cadwell, J. E., 1852, 69. McDonald, Leonard G., 1865, 7, 8, 

Carter, William C, 1840. 9, 70. 

Cool, Hiram M., 1852, 3, 62, 3, 5. Phelps, Walter jr., 1860. 

Curtis, George, 1861, 2, 3, 5. Roberts, Charles, 1862. 

Davis, Isaac J., 1867. Schenck, James, 1856, 9, 60, 1. 

*To fill vacancy. 



268 



HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 







Abstract of Parochial Reports. 
















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1853, .'.'.'.'. 


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1854, .... 


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103 


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1855, 


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185fi, 


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170 


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1857, 






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1860, 


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350 


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60 


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35 


1861, 










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1863, .... 


54 


104 


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13 




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45 


1863, 


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58 


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16 


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44 


1864, 


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58 


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1865, 


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1866, .... 


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1867, 


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1868 






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85 


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65 


1869, 


85 




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3 


10 


3 


6 


77 


10 


6 


'3 


6 


50 


1870 





























PART II. 



i 



HISTORY OF QUEENSBURY. 



CHAPTER I. 




I 



Discoveries by Samuel Champlain — Engagement between the 
Algonquin and Iroquois Indians — Mohawk Claims to the Terri- 
tory AROUND LaKeGtEORGE — TrEATY HELD THERE — EXPLORATIONS 

BY Henry Hudson in this Region — Fort Anne and Fort Nichol- 
son BUILT — Jesuit Missions among the Mohawks — First Dis- 
covert OF Lake St. Sacrament by Father Jogues — His tortures 
AND death — Old French War — Treaty op Aix la Chapelle — 
Declaration of War — Advance op Gen. Johnson — Council op 
War at Fort Edward. 

JN" the early part of the year 1608, two vessels were 
fitted out in one of the ports of France, and placed 
under the command of Samuel Champlain,(a) a bold 
and experienced navigator. On the thirteenth of 
April these vessels sailed for the New World, and in less than two 
months arrived in safety at a trading ^ post, which had been 
established in a previous voyage. Thence he sailed up the St. 
Lawrence river, and erected barracks at the mouth of the St. 
Charles river, where he and his people wintered, suffering much 
from the intense severity of the climate. Early in the 
spring, eager for adventure, and desirous of exploring the coun- 

' Tadoussac, where in 1603 Pontgrave and Cliamplain had left their ships, and 
in a small open boat had pushed their discoveries up the great river as far 
as Sault St. Louis, which had been visited by Cartier many years before. 

(«) Champlain, Samuel De, governor of Canada, and founder of Quebec, 
from whom Lake Champlain takes its name, was born at Bronage in France. 
The first attempt to establish a French colony in Canada, after being prosecuted 
by Cartier from 1534 to 1542 was abandoned, but the enterprise was resumed 
about the beginning of the 17th century, and Champlain, who had obtained a 
reputation as a naval olficer in the East Indies, was appointed pilot to De Chatte, 
the Lieut. General of Canada. In 1603, he ascended the St. Lawrence as far as the 
Falls of St. Loxiis, explored the country, and returned to France. The years 1604 
and 1605 were spent in further explorations of the coast, and in 1607 went to 
Tadoussac. Quebec was founded by him in 1608, and the same year he dis- 
covered and suppressed a dangerous conspiracy which had for its object his mur 



272 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

try, he, with two of his compauions, joined a war party of Hu- 
rous and Algouquins at the embouchure of the Eichelieu river. 
This expedition, consisting of sixty savages, commanded by two 
distinguished chiefs, Yroquet and Ochasteguin, embarked in 
twenty-four canoes, and ascended Lake Champlain to Ticonde- 
roga, ^ where they lauded, and through the aid of their allies, 
the French, with their fire arms, now introduced for the first 
time into their savage warfare, met, and defeated a large party 
of their ancient enemies the Iroquois. Some writers do not 
hesitate to assert that, during this excursion, Champlain ex- 
plored Lake George, and even visited that point on the Hudson 
river, now known as Glen's Falls. However this may be, there 
is little doubt but what this adventurous pioneer in the pathway 
of civilization, became fully informed in regard to the topo- 
graphy of the country. This region was in the direct pathway 
of the aggressive parties of the red warriors of the great Algon- 
quin nations at the north ; the formidable Iroquois Confederacy 
at the south and west, and the allied tribes of the great Mohican 
stock, including the Schaghticoke Indians to the east. The 
elevated wilderness plateau,^ bounded by the St. Lawrence, 
Lake Champlain, the Hudson and Mohawk rivers, was the favor- 
ite hunting ground of these various tribes, where, according to 
tradition, more than one struggle for conquest and supremacy 
had taken place, before the white man had made his advent upon 

der, and the abandonment of the expedition. The early part of 1609 was occupied 
with contests with the Indians, in which he proved successful. He went to 
France in September, leaving the colony under the care of Peter Chavin, but 
returned in the spring of 1610. He again engaged in war with the Iroquois with 
similar success. In 1611 he went again to France, but returned in 1612, as lieut. 
governor under Charles de Bourbon. The winter of 1615 was spent among the 
Hurons. For many years he was actively employed in promoting the interests 
of the colony, which, however, was taken by the English in 1629, and Champlain, 
who had capitulated to Sir David Kirk, carried by him to France. In 1633, 
Canada having been restored to France the previous year by the treaty of St. Ger- 
main, he was appointed governor, which office he retained till his death in 
December, 1635. He published, in 1632, a history of New France, or Canada from 
its first discovery to 1631, containing a minute account of his voyages. He de- 
serves credit for his fidelity as an historian, and his skill and courage as an 
officer. — A2)pleto)i's Cyclopedia of Biography. 

' It is but proper to say that some authors have reached the conclusion that the 
headland of Crown Point was the scene of the engagement here recorded. 

" The Beaver Hunting Place, is the name given in the English charts to the 
deserts between Lake Ontario, the river St. Lawrence, and the Lakes George and 
Champlain, and the river of Soree. — Chastellux's Travels in North America, Eng. 
Translation, vol. i, p. 390. Translator's note. 



MOHAWKS CLAIM COMPENSATION. 273 

these western shores. Amid the dense forests and stupendous 
mountain ranges embraced in this territory, the red man to a 
period within the memory of those now living, has reigned the 
paramount chief. As lately as the year 1792, the Cahnawaga, 
and St. Regis Indians, as the heirs and representatives of the 
ancient Mohawks,^ sent a deputation to the government of the 
state of New York, claiming compensation for the tract of 
country embraced between Lake Champlain and the river St. 
Lawrence, and whose eastern and southern boundaries were 
defined by a line drawn from a point between Fort Edward and 
Lake George to the junction of Canada creek with the Mohawk 
near the village of Little Falls in Herkimer county, and thence 
to the head waters of the Mohawk on the west, i^o result fol- 
lowing this application, a similar eftbrt was made in 1793, and 
again in 1794. During the following year this claim was 
brought to the attention of the New York legislature by a special 
message from the governor, and a commission was appointed 
to investigate the claim. At the same session a joint resolution 
passed the legislature, indemnifying the deputies for their ex- 
penses, and also providing for them suitable presents or gratui- 
ties. No satisfactory conclusion being reached, an arrangement 
was entered into for a treaty to be held at the head of Lake 
George the- ensuing fall. Commissioners were accordingly ap- 
pointed, notices sent to the tribes interested, and provision made 
for defraying the expenses of the council, including the cus- 
tomary appropriation for presents. In addition to the barracks, 
storehouses and other buildings connected with old Fort George, 
which were placed in readiness for the expected guests, an am- 
ple supply of tents and camp equipage was despatched from 
Albany, together with provisions and other supplies, and for 
three weeks a carnival of amusement was held, so striking and 
impressive that for a half a century the memory of it was 
vividly borne in the minds of the surviving witnesses. Daily 
horse-back parties from the Corners, as Glen's Falls was 
then often called, and visitors from all the adjacent settlements 
and villages, visited the scene, attracted by the unique display, 

' Properly speaking these tribes represented what are known in the Catholic 
Annals as " the domiciliated Indians," namely those who had become converts to 
the Romish faith, and were associated at the several mission stations alonu- the 
border, partly for religious and partly for civil purposes, but chiefly as a protection 
against the incursions of savages in the English interest from the south. They 
are frequently spoken of as the Seven Nations of Canada. 
35 



274 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY, 

or to witness the ball play, the mock fights, the mimic dances, 
and other athletic sports and amusements of the young braves, 
and fledgeling warriors. During the progress of the treaty, 
which was conducted with all the ceremonious gravity, charac- 
teristic of the deliberations of the aborigines, the council was 
visited by Gov. Jay, and his military staff and some of the 
principal official dignitaries of the state. What with the glitter- 
ing and showy uniforms of that day ; the gaudy trappings and 
bizarre decorations of the chiefs ; the stately and sedate bearing 
of the deputies, this assemblage constituted an imposing and 
memorable event which Lake George has probably never paral- 
leled from that day to the present. Although nothing was 
positively accomplished by this treaty,^ it was another step in 
the progress of events, which ended in a final and satisfactory 
adjustment of the points at issue. 

At a treaty held in the city of New York, in the mouth of 
May following, these long contested claims were finally ex- 
tinguished, by the agreement of the agents to pay the claimants 
in the mouth of August following, the sum of one thousand 
two hundred and thirty pounds, six shillings and eight pence, 
" lawful money of said state," and on the third Monday in 
August, yearly, forever thereafter, the like sum of two hundred 
and thirty pounds six shillings and eight pence. In. addition to 
this annuity, were certain small reservations of laud in the neigh- 
borhood of their settlement. The Mohawk title proper to this 
territory, was ceded to the state by a treaty held at Albany on 
the twenty-ninth of March, 1795, the consideration being one 

' " The results (of tliis treaty) were communicated by the agents of the state to 
Governor Jay, who, in the month of January, transmitted the following message' 
to the legislature. 

" Oentlemen : I have now the honor of laying before you the proceedings at a 
treaty with the Indians, denominated the seven nations of Canada, comprising 
those usually denominated the St. Regis Indians, held at the south end of Lake 
George, in this state, on the twenty-sixth day of September last, with a letter of 
the second inst., from the agents who were appointed to attend it on the part of 
the state. 

" It appears from the above mentioned letter, that the expenses incident to the 
Bald treaty have been paid, and the accounts duly audited and passed, except the 
allowance usually made by the United States to the commissioners whom they 
employ lor holding treaties with the Indians. 

" The compensation due to the said agents for their services, still remains to be 
ascertained and ordered by the legislature. 

" New York, 23d January, 1796. " John Jay." 



1 Taken at length from Hough's Histxrryof St. Lawrence and Franklin Coundef, p. 134. 



HENRY HUDSON. 275 

thousand dollars, besides the expenses of the deputies and cer- 
tain presents for distribution among the tribe.' 

The discovery of Henry Hudson, (a) nearly contemporaneous 
with that of Champlain, had developed the existence of the noble 
river now bearing his name, and their high mightinesses, the lords 
of the states general of Holland, had promptly availed them- 
selves of the fertile foothold thus presented for a commercial 
colony in the l^ew World. At a very early date men of wealth 
and distinction emigrated with their families and retainers, and 
in the virgin forests of the Chatiemac founded manors and estates 
after the style of the feudal barons and mediaeval chieftains of the 
Rhine, and with the title of patroons exercised for a century an 
almost undisputed sovereignty over their tenants and followers. 
Dutch settlements sprung up with almost incredible rapidity. 
In less than twenty-iive years from the date of Hudson's adventur- 
ous voyage, existing records show that the Dutch runners, traders, 
and agents had penetrated the wilderness in every direction in 
pursuit of traffic, adventure, and discovery. This section which 



I 



' See Hough's History of St. Laiorence and Franklin Counties, p. 125 to 146. 

{a) Henry Hudson, spelled Herdson, Hodson, Hodsdon, was, as contemporaneous 
documents go to show with tolerable conclusiveness, the grandson of Henry 
Hudson who was the founder, and first assistant of the great Muscovy Company 
and who died while holding the office of alderman in London in 1555. He was 
probably also the son of Capt. Thomas Hudson, an experienced navigator of that day, 
who was in the employment of the powerful Muscovy Company organized for the 
purpose of maritime commerce and discovery. This famous discoverer was trained 
up in the employ of that company and was the intimate companion and associate 
of the distinguished navigators and explorers of that active period. His firs^ two 
voyages of which we have any authentic record were made in the interest of that 
wealthy and enterprising corporation. 

It is conjectured, with a fair show of probability, that about the beginning of the 
17th century, a few years prior to the discoveries which have associated his name 
so conspicuously with American history, he was for a while in the employment of 
the Merchant Adventurers, another influential company of London merchants, of 
which his supposed uncle Christopher Hudson was president. 

The first voyage of Hudson, of which there is authentic record, was made in 
the interest of the great Muscovy or Russia Company in 1607. Holding to the 
opinion of an open polar sea, he sailed from Gravesend the first of May with the 
intention of crossing the north pole by the coast of Greenland. Being deterred 
by the impenetrable barrier of ice, he skirted the coast of Greenland to its 
southern extremity, and returned to England on the 15th of September following, 
having attained a higher degree of latitude than any previous traveler, and 
adding materially to the world's knowledge of those unexplored regions. 

On the 22d of April 1608, he embarked on his second recorded voyage for the 
Muscovy Company in pursuit of that delusion of the early navigators a north 
east passage to the Indies. In this adventure he reached the northern coast of 
Norway, reached Nova Zembla on the sixth of July, and after a vain effort to force 



276 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURT. 

has since become classic ground in the eye of the historian; 
lying in the direct route between the French settlements at 
the north and the commercial posts on the Hudson, was 
among the first to be explored, and the tributaries of the Hud- 
son, as far north as Fort Edward, still bear the names given 
them by their Dutch discoverers. From that time to the out- 
break of the old French war, which terminated in the conquest 
of Canada, and the final expulsion of the French frop a foot- 
hold in North America, the trail leading from Albany to 
Montreal through the villages of Fort Edward, Sandy Hill 
and Glen's Falls to the'head of Lake George was deeply worn by 
, the mingled footsteps of the white and red man, in the frequent 
and often clashing pursuits of war and trafi&c — the lu3t of con- 
quest and gain. To this day, the frequently exhumed relics of 
frontier warfare, both savage and civilized, bear witness to 
the hot and sanguinary struggles which have here taken place. 
Until after the French war the territory of northern New 
York, was embraced within the somewhat unsettled boundaries 
of Albany county. North of the domain of the Van Rensselaers, 
the old military post of Saratoga,* was the first, and for a long 

a passage returned to England, landing at Gravesend, on the 26tli day of 
August, 1608. These brilliant enterprises aroused the jealousy and apprehension 
of the opulent East India Company of Holland ; and with characteristic enterprise 
they sought to divert the labors of the bold navigator to their interest. He was 
accordingly induced to visit Amsterdam, and after tediously delayed negotiations 
entered the employ of that Company. On Saturday the fourth of April, 1G09 he 
set sail from Amsterdam in the Half-Moon, a yacht of about 80 tons burden and 
manned by 16 or 18 English and Dutcli sailors. The object of this voyage was a 
renewal of the search for a north-east passage by the route pursued the previous 
year. Failing in this, and his crew becoming mutinous, he, with their consent, 
turned his prow in search of other adventures towards the setting sun. He 
reached the banks of Newfoundland on the second of July — skirted the coast of 
the continent as far north as Delaw/ire Bay which he discovered and entered, and 
in September discovered, and sailed up the river which bears his name. 

The following year he sailed again in the Half-Moon, and again cursed with a 
wicked and mutinous crew, "though he had divided even with tears his last bread 
with his men, yet on midsummer's day, IGll, his ungrateful crew, thrusting him 
into a frail boat with Ids son, and several sick saih)rs, cut him adrift, to perish 
amid the arctic winds and waves of the great waste of waters (Hudson's bay) 
which bearing his name " is his tomb and monument." — Compiled from A His- 
torical Inqury concerning Henry Hudson by John Meredith Read jr. 

' Fort Saratoga stood upon a hill on the east side of the Hudson, opposite the 
present Schuylerville. It was rebuilt in the spring of 1746, in quadrangular form 
and strongly palisaded, and named Fort Clinton." — Lossing's Life and Times of 
Philip iSchu//U'r, vol. t, p. 56, note. It was abandoned and burnt by the English, 
about Dec. 1st, 1747 ; it being untenable as against the enemy. 



JESUIT MISSIONS. 277 

period the only barrier between the nomads of Canada, and 
the stockade defenses at Fort Orange. As early as 1709 a mili- 
tary road was constructed on the east side of the Hudson as far 
as the head waters of Lake Champlain. Along this route, in 
addition to the post already named, two other forts were erected, 
the northernmost of which was named Fort Ann in honor of 
the then reigning sovereign of England. The next was named 
Fort Nicholson, after the commander of the expedition. This 
afterward formed a part of the defenses known as Fort Lydius. 

Contemporaneous with the progress of French discovery and 
colonization, was that wonderful movement in the direction of 
Christianizing the savage races, and the establishment of Indian 
missions by the Jesuits of the seventeenth century. This enter- 
prise stands conspicuously out upon the pages of modern his- 
tory, without parallel for the endurance, perseverance, energy, 
self abnegation, constancy, devotion and ultimate horrible tor- 
ture and death of its victims. 

Not only hand in hand with the explorer, the fur trader, and 
military adventurer, but oftentimes far in advance of either, 
we find these enthusiastic devotees, penetrating the bosky wilds 
and sullen glooms of the Saguenay and the upper lakes ; now 
halting by the far stretching vistas of the Beautiful river; 
founding missions by the numerous waters of the great inland 
seas; and anon pushing adventurously up the unknown tribu- 
taries of the great Mississippi; paddling in frail canoes over 
unexplored wastes of water ; wading and wandering through 
untraversed swamps, and inimitable wildernesses, through storm 
and tempest, frost and snow, starvation and sickness ; in perils 
more deadly and imminent than those encountered by St. 
Paul; of ravening beasts, of venomous reptiles, and of merci- 
less savages, these men of God fought their way with the invisi- 
ble but ever potent weapons of a sublime faith, impelled by the 
fervid vow of obedience and high convictions of duty, until 
nearly all of that splendid galaxy, finally achieved the cross and 
crown of martyrdom through the bloody and terrific ordeal of 
the tomahawk and scalping knife, the cruel gauntlet, the torture, 
the stake and the funeral pyre. Of this number was Father 
Isaac Jogues,^ who joined the ill fated Huron mission in 1636. 
• 

' " He was born at Orleans in 1607, and (at tlie time of his capture), was thirty, 
five years ot'ajje. His oval face and the delicate mould of his features indicated a 
modest, thoughtful, and refined nature. He was constitutionally timid, with a 



278 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

After arduous labors in preaching and propagating the faith 
along the northern shores of Lake Huron, as far as the straits 
of Michilimackinac, and the Sault Sainte Marie, he, in company 
with four other Frenchmen, and a party of thirty-five Hurons, 
early in the summer of 1642, while on their way from Quebec 
to the mission with supplies, were attacked near the western 
end of Lake St. Peters, and the entire party of whites and 
about half of the Hurons were made prisoners. In trying to 
help one of his companions, the brutal savages pounded him 
with their clubs and fists until he was senseless, and chewed 
and lacerated his hands with their teeth until they were so 
mutilated as to be nearly useless. 

The prisoners were conveyed by the way of the Richelieu 
river and Lake Champlain, to the Mohawk settlements. 

Near the southern extremity of Lake Champlain, they en- 
countered another war party of the L'oquois, when the ill fated 
prisoners were subjected to fresh indignities, and were obliged 
to run the gauntlet. Father Jogues was again knocked sense- 
less ; his hands frightfully mutilated, and drenched with blood, 
and fire was applied to his body. On their way to the Mohawk 
towns, the party passed through Lake George, and as this is the 
first record we have of a white man visiting this locality, there 
can be little question but that Father Jogues with his compan- 
ions, Groupil and Couture, were the first of the Caucassian race 
to set eyes upon this lovely lake, or to traverse the portage be- 
yond it. Staggering under heavy burdens all the way, the poor 
priest and his suffering companions at length reached the lower 
Mohawk village, where they were again obliged to run the 
gauntlet and suffer fresh tortures and mutilations. Here Father 
Jogues had one of his thumbs cut oft' by one of the Algonquin 
female converts, who was compelled to perform this piece of 
butcher}^ From town to town these scenes were repeated and 
for months he was in daily expectation of meeting his fate. 
Goupil was at finally tomahawked. Couture was adopted into 
the tribe. At length, after more than a year of captivity, through 
the instrumentality and kindness of the Dutch minister and 



sensitive conscience and jrreat religious susceptibilities. He was a finished scholar, 
and miprht have "gained a literary reputation ; but he had chosen another career, 
and one for which he seemed but ill fitted. Physically, however, he was well 
matched with his work ; for, thoupfh his frame was slight, he was so active, that 
none of the Indians could surpass him in running." — Parkman's Jesuits in North 
America, p. 214. 



FATHER JOGUES. 279 

other sympathizing friends in Albany, who afterward paid a 
large ransom to appease the Mohawks, he escaped to TTew York, 
and after various mishaps, in which he seemed continually the 
victim of bad fortune, he reached France in the month of Jan- 
uary, 1644. Here for a season he became the subject of great 
interest and attention; and besides receiving visits and expres- 
sions of sympathy from the queen, and many persons of rank 
and distinction, was the object of the deepest veneration and 
regard by the members of his order, who for months had made 
his sufferings and torture the subject of special solicitude and 
reflection. At this time he received from the pope a special 
dispensation authorizing him to celebrate mass with his muti- 
lated hands. 

The ensuing spring he returned to Canada,^ and for a while 
had a respite from his arduous and hazardous labors. Two 
years later he was commissioned by the governor to proceed on 
a political embassy to the Iroquois country, with gifts, congratu- 
lations and conciliating messages to the Mohawks, in relation 
to the ratification of a treaty recently consummated with the 
Canadian authorities. He was at the same time commissioned 
by the superior of his order to establish a mission among that 
bloodthirsty people, bearing the prophetic and significant name, 
of the mission of the martyrs. About the middle of May, 
1646, he left Three Rivers on this expedition, in company with 
the Sieur Bourdon, engineer in chief on the governor's staff, 
two Algonquin deputies carrying belts and presents in behalf 
of their tribe, and four Mohawks to act as guides and an escort. 
Proceeding up the Richelieu river and Lake Champlain, past 
the scenes of former trials and sufierings, he reached the lower 
extremity of Lake George on the eve of the Romish festival of 
Corpus Christi,^ and as a memorial of the same, conferred 
upon this historic sheet the name of Lac St. Sacrament, a name 
which, for upwards of a century, was borne without dispute or 
question. From the head of Lake George to the. Hudson, the 

' " Hennepin says * * tlie Spaniards who were the first discoverers, 
expected to have found some valuable mines there, and being disappointed, called 
that part of it on which the upper town of Quebec, is now partly situated, il capo 
di nacla, a cape of nothing, or barren cape ; whence, adds this writer, the 
name of Canada has been corrupted. Others say, that upon the Spaniards first 
landing, they were accosted by the natives with the words liaJi-cah-nah-dah Avhich 
implies there's nothing here." — Knox's Hist. Journal, 1-303. 

^ A holy-day set tor the Thursday of the week following Pentecost (Whitsunday) 
to commemorate the real presence in the Holy Eucharist. 



280 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY, 

party had a weary march, carryiug their presents and luggage. 
Below the fall, they succeeded in procuring canoes and proceeded 
thence to Albany. Although no outrages were committed, the 
embassy, in great degree, proved a failure, and the party returned, 
reaching Fort Richelieu on the twenty-seventh of June. 

To complete the narrative, Jogues was sent back by his 
superior, in August, was taken prisoner *vhile on the route from 
Canada, and, on his arrival at the Mohawk village, after having 
thin strips of flesh torn from his body, was led to the house of 
a chief, where, on his entrance, his skull was cloven with a 
tomahawk, and he fell dead at his tormentor's feet. " Thus 
died Isaac Jogues, one of the purest examples of Roman 
Catholic virtue, which this western continent has seen." ^ 

After this tragic occurrence, a hundred years passed on in the 
cycle of human events, and this northern border, with its scanty 
fringe of civilization, still remained the domain and in the oc- 
casional occupancy of savage tribes wandering in the search of 
peltry or game, or making its sodden trails the pathway of 
predal and vindictive warfare. Marin's expedition, which " left 
Montreal on the 4th of Nov., 1745," * * " on the sug- 
gestion of Father Piquet, the French prefect apostolique to 
Canada, who met the expedition at Crown Point, and the re- 
presentatives of the Iroquois who were with Marin, * * 
they passed up Lake Champlain and Wood creek, crossed the 
country to the Hudson river, destroyed Lydius's lumber estab- 
lishment on the site of«Fort Edward, and approached the thriv- 
ing settlement of Saratoga, which they utterly destroyed."^ 

The peace secured by the treat}^ of Aix-la-Chapelle, hollow 
and insincere in the old world, was scarcely observed in the 
new. The ashes of the frontier settlements had scarcely ceased 
smoking when the French resumed, with unwonted energy, their 
original and favorite plan of establishing a chain of mihtary 
posts froni the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the mouth of the Mis- 
sissippi. The Indians, far and near, by threats and caresses, 
presents, promises, and displays of force, were rendered tribu- 
tary to their vast designs, and the liuni of military preparation, 
the chink of the carpenter's hammer, and the echo of the carbine, 
rang from the Kennebec to the Monongahela. 

Frequent Indian alarms alqng the border in 1754, aroused the 

• ' Parkman's Jesuits in NortJi America, p. 304. 
' Lossiiiff's Life and Times of Philip Schuyler, vol. i, p. 54. 



I 



MARTIAL PREPAEATIONS. 281 

colonists to a sense of danger, and steps were taken for a more 
effective defense than had as yet been adopted. A larger body 
of troops was raised for the protection of the frontier, and 
Ephraim Williams was promoted to the rank of major and 
placed in command. The following year, war, which had been 
long pending, was formally declared, and both sides rallied 
themselves for that long and bloody struggle, which was des- 
tined in the councils of the Almighty Ruler of the Universe to 
overthrow the French dominion in North America. 

Provincial assemblies were convened, money and troops voted 
in profusion, and with the opening of the spring, the whole sea- 
board as well as wilderness border of the English colonies was 
actively astir with martial preparations. Massachusetts raised 
three regiments of infantry, the third of which was placed in 
the command of Ephraim Williams, again advanced to the rank 
of colonel. The phin of the campaign contemplated a simulta- 
neous movement of three distinct armies upon as many different 
points of the line of French fortifications between the head 
waters of the Ohio and Quebec. Col. Williams's regiment was 
destined to cooperate with the force of Maj. Gen. William 
Johnson in an attack upon the French posts on Lake Champlain, 
and was ordered to rendezvous for that purpose with the other 
New England levies at Albany. 

In April, 1755, a convention of the governors of the several 
colonies was assembled at Annapolis ^ in Maryland, at which 
Gen. Braddock assisted for the purpose of arranging the details 
of militar}^ operations for the ensuing campaign. It was at this 
cohference determined to despatch the first expedition, under 
the command of Gen. Braddock, in person, against the post since 
known as FortDu Quesne at the junction of the Alleghany and 
Monongahela rivers. The second, designed for the conquest of 
the posts on and near Lake Ontario, was to be commanded by 
Gen. Shirley; and the third, destined for the Champlain valley, 
was entrusted to the command of William Johnson, who had 
been recently commissioned as major general. Of these three 
expeditions, the latter, only, was in part successful. 

In July following, 600 men under the command of Gen. Ly- 
man, of New Hampshire, detailed to cooperate with the northern 



• War was not declared in Europe until tlie following year, by England on the 
IStli of May, and by France on the 9th of June, ensuing. 
36 



282 



HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 



army, was sent forward to clear up the old military road along 
the Hudson, and to rebuild the fort at Lydius's mills. 

While this was in progress, Col. Miller, with another detach- 
ment of the army, threw up a block-house and entrenchments 
at the second carrying place on the Hudson. The village 
of Fort Miller still perpetuates the name then given to these 
defenses. 





CHAPTER n. 

GrATHERma OP THE ENGLISH ArMY AT ALBANY — It PROCEEDS TO THE 

Head of Lake George — First Religious Service and Sermon at 
THAT Place — Council op War — King Hendrick's Eloquence — 
The Bloody Morning Scout — Battle op Lake George — Defeat 
OF THE French Army and Capture op its Leader — Action at 
Bloody pond. 

[HE several quotas for the expedition against Fort St. 
Frederic having at length reached Albany, and the 
other preparations for the campaign having been 
matured, in the early part of August, the main body 
of the army set forward in its march northward; and General 
Johnson soon followed with the artillery, stores and baggage. 
Advancing slowly along the old military road up the river, 
he reached the camp at the great carrying place on the four- 
teenth of August, at which time he reported to Governor 
Delancey that his entire force would " not exceed 2850 men fit 
for marching to Crown Point." Col. Cockroft's regiment, was 
left behind as a convoy to the wagons and batteaux freighted 
with the usual impedimenta of an army. An addition to the 
defenses of this important point was at this time commenced, 
to which the name of Fort Lyman ^ was first given in honor of 
Major General Phineas Lyman (a) of the Connecticut troops, to 

^ It stood close upon the bank of the Hudson, on the north side of the mouth of 
Fort Edward creek. It was of an irregular quadrangular form, with bastions at 
three of the angles, the fourth angle being effectually protected by the river. It 
was constructed of timber and earth. The ramparts were sixteen feet high, and 
twenty-two feet thick, and were mounted with six cannon. A deep fosse was 
excavated in front of two of its sides, the other two sides fronting upon, and being 
protected by Fort Edward creek and the Hudson. In addition to the several 
buildings which stood inside of the walls of the fort, large store houses and bar- 
racks were reared on an island opposite to it in the river. — Fitch's Hist. Survey of 
Washington County. In Trans. N. T. 8. xigricultural Soc'y, 1848. 

(a) " Phinehas Lyman, was born at Durham, Conn., about 1716 ; was gradu- 
ted in 1738 at Yale College, in which he was afterwards a tutor three years ; and 
settled as a lawyer in Suffield. He sustained various public offices. In 1755 he 
was appointed major general and commander in chief of the Connecticut forces 
and built Fort Lyman, now called Fort Edward, N. Y. When Sir W. Johnson 
was wounded in the battle of Lake George, the command devolved on him. In 
1758, he served under Abercrombie, and was with Lord Howe, when he was 



284 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

whom was assigned the duty of erection. It was shortly after 
changed to Fort Edward in compliment to Edward, Duke 
of York, grandson of George the second, and brother of George 
the third. 

On the fifteenth a council of war was held, at which resolu- 
tions were passed, desiring additional aid and reinforcements 
from the governors of New York and Connecticut; and re- 
questing the governor of Massachusetts to make a diversion 
in their favor, by sending a detachment of five hundred troops 
down the Chaudiere river against the French establishments 
in that vicinity. On the twenty-fourth of the same month. Gen. 
Johnson writes to Lieut. Gov. Delancey from the camp at the 
great carrying place, that " the road is now making from this 
place to Lake St. Sacrament ' where I propose to build maga- 
zines and raise a defensible fortification, either as a safe retreat 
in case we should find the enemy too strong for our force, and 
be obliged to quit our ground, or upon well grounded intelli- 
gence find it the most prudent measure to halt there till we re- 
ceive reinforcements."^ Headds," I propose to march to-morrow 
or next day with the first division of about fifteen hundred men, 
and some Indians, and a few field pieces." 

Awaiting developments, General Johnson established a camp 
at the head of the lake, and under the immediate supervision 
of Col. Williams, a large clearing was made on the headland 
afterward covered by the intrenchments of Fort William Henry. 

In a communication to the board of trade dated the 3d Sept., 

killed. He was also at the capture of Crown Point by Amherst and at the sur- 
render of Montreal. 

'• In 1762 he commanded the provincial troops in the expedition against Havana. 
In 1763 he went to England as the agent of his brother officers to receive their 
prize money, also as agent of a company, called the military adventurers, to 
solicit a grant of land on the Mississippi, and wasted 11 years of his life. Being 
deluded for years by idle promises, his mind sunk down into imbecility. 

" At last his wife, who was a sister of Dr. Dwight's father, sent his second son to 
solicit his return in 1774. About this time a tract was granted to the petitioners. 
After his return he embarked with his eldest son for the Mississippi, and both 
died soon after their arrival at West Florida in 1775." — See Dwight's Travels, 1- 
305. 361-3. Wilson's Orderly Book, in MxinselVs Hist. Series, p. 29, 7iote. 

' Lac du Saint Sacrament. Father Jogues on his return to Canada, 

set out with some Indians for the scene of his former sufferings, in com- 
pany with Sieur Bourdon, royal engineer, and arrived on the festival of Corpus 
Christi, at Lake Andiatorocte, to which, in honor of the day, he gave the name 
of the Lake of the Blessed Sacrament. — 0' Callaghan' s Hist, of New Netherland, 
vol. II, p. 299. 

' Documentary Hist, of N. T., vol. ii, p. 682. — Johnson Manuscripts. 



NAMING OF LAKE GEORGE. 285 

1775. General Johnson states as follows : I am building a fort 
at this lake where no house ever before was built, nor a rod 
of land cleared, which the French call Lake St. Sacrament, 
but I have given it the name of Lake George, not only in honor 
to His Majesty but to ascertain his undoubted dominion here. 
When the battoes (certain small boats so called) are brought 
from the last fort caused to be built at the great carrying place 
ab' 17 miles from hence, I propose to go down this lake with a 
part of the army, and take part of the end of it about fifty miles 
from hence at a pass called Tionderogue ^ ab' 15 miles from 
Crown Point, there wait the coming up of the rest of the army, 
and then attack Crown Point." 

On Sunday, the seventh, the camp was hushed to listen to the 
first Christian services and sermon ^ held on this spot of which 
there is record. The venerable and Reverend Stephen Wil- 
liams of Longmeadow, Mass., a near relative of Col. Williams, 
and chaplain of his regiment, preached in camp from the pro- 
phetic words of Isaiah, " which remain among the graves and 
lodge in the mountains." The forces gathered here now num- 
bered nearly five thousand, and the want of transportation, 
coupled with the intelligence received from his trusty scouts 
and runners, that the French were in possession of the passes 
at the north dissipated the plan for any further advance. 

In the mean time the enemy, more active and aggressive, 
had despatched three thousand men to the frontier post of St. 
Frederic. Nearly one third of these were veterans from the 
fields of France, the remainder consisting of Canadians and 
Indians. They were joined on the seventeenth by the Baron 
deDieskau, a brave and experienced officer who had been as- 

^ Invariably so spelled by Gen. Jolinson. Ticonderoga has a widely varied or- 
thography. It is supposed to be a contraction of the Indian term Tek-ya-dough- 
ni-gar-i-gee, signifying two points opposite to each other ; ye Indian name of Fort 
St. Frederic. — Vide map of the middle British Colonies, hy T. Pownall, M. P. , Loud., 

1776. The same term was applied to the narrows between Ticonderoga and Crown 
Point forming the entrance to Lake Champlain. T. Poionall's Topographical de- 
scription of North America, Land., 1776. Pownall himself spells the word Cheon- 
deroga, and defines it as signifying three rivers. — Vide map ut supra. 

" " On Sunday, all come forth and collect in the groves for the worship of God ; 
three hundred red men, also, regularly enlisted under the English flag, and paid 
from the English treasury, seat themselves on the hillock, and, while the light of 
a summer's afternoon is shedding its sweetest influence on the tops of the forest 
clad mountains and on the still waters of the deep transparent lake, they listen 
gravely to the interpretation of a long sermon." — Bancroft's Hist. U. S., vol. vi, 
p. 28. 



286 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

signed to the command of the expedition. For the following 
fifteen days he was encamped under the entrenchments of that 
fort maturing his plans — sending out scouts for intelligence and 
harmonizing disagreements among the intractable savages who 
constituted so large a part of his following. On the second of 
September he reached the lower fall on the outlet of Lake 
George, whence he sent out a small scouting party, and 
bivouacked for a couple of days at what is now known as the 
fort ground of Ticonderoga. On the 4th M. de St Pierre was 
sent forward with the Canadians and Indians, who were to 
sleep that night on the side of the great marsh near Whitehall. 
General Dieskau made the great mistake of leaving the bulk 
of his force, viz. 1800 men, at Carillon, and with a flying corps of 
six hundred Canadians, as many Indians and three hundred re- 
gulars, including two companies of grenadiers, a detail of twelve 
marines and a squad of artillerymen and bombardiers, he reached 
the head of South bay, on Lake Champlain, on the fifth, and set 
forward on his march toward Fort Lyman. Continuing the 
march on the sixth, about noon the detachment encamped be- 
yond the mountains.^ Here small scoutingparties were sent off 
in the direction of Fort Lyman and the head of Lake George. 
One of these returning the same night discovered and reported 
thick smoke seen in the direction of Johnson's camp. On the 
seventh, the army, preceded by scouts, again set forward. About 
two o'clock of that day the scouts, who had been sent to recon- 
noiter in the vicinity of Fort Lyman, rejoined the main body, 
with the information that there were about fifty tents outside 
the fort, upon which Dieskau, true to his motto,^ decided to at- 
tack it. Pushing forward, he reached that night the banks of the 
Hudson river about one league from the fort, where he en- 
camped for the night.^ 

At daybreak on the eighth the Indians fired at and killed a 
courier galloping rapidly towards the fort.* On his person was 



' I have fo]lowed im]ilicitly the oflBcial statement of M. de Vaudreuil in regard 
to Dieskau's march. This, it will be seen, varies materially from the commonly 
received accovint ; and differs somewhat from Bancroft's relation. — Vide Colonial 
Docume?its relating to the History of N. Y., vol. x, p. 313-327. 

"^ Boldness wins. 

' Probably on the flat at the foot of Sandy Hill. 

* " I got one Adams, a waggoner, who voluntarily and bravely consented to ride 
express with my orders to Colonel Blanchard of the New Hampshire regiment, 
commanding officer there. I acquainted him with my intelligence, and directed 
him to withdraw ail the troops there within tlie works thrown up (at Fort Lyman). 



CAPTURE OF DISPATCH. 287 

found a dispatch to the of&cer in command of the garrison at 
that place advising' him of Dieskau's approach, with a large 
force of Frenchmen, Canadians, and Indians; and cautioning 
him as to the proper disposition of the provisions and ammuni- 
tion. Twelve wagons shortly after passed in the same direction, 
from which Dieskau only obtained two prisoners, from whom 
he obtained tolerably accurate information as to the condition 
and disposition of the English forces at the head of the lake. 
The garrison at Fort Lyman consisted of only about three 
hundred troops from the ISTew Hampshire levies under Col. 
Blanchard. It was the baron's original intention, after learning 
the weakness of the latter place, to move forward with celerity, 
assault and carry it by storm. " The Iroquois refused point 
blank to march to attack the fort." Dieskau in his account of 
the affair says : " I was to arrive at nightfall at that fort and rush 
to the attack; but the Iroquois, who took the lead on the 
march, under the pretence of zeal, caused a wrong direction to 
be taken ; and when I was informed of the circumstance, it 
was no longer time to apply a remedy, so that at nigthtfall I 
was yet a league from that fort on the road leading from it to 
Lake St. Sacrament."^ 

M. de St Pierre who, by the baron's orders, had consulted 
the chiefs of the different natives, and communicated to them 
his intention of attacking the camp at the head of the lake, 
under the alluring representation " that the more English there 
were, the more of them he would kill," reported that the In- 
dians would submit to his pleasure; and should he succeed at 
Lake St. Sacrament, they would accompany him to the fort.^ 

After day-break on the morning of the eighth, Dieskau com- 
menced his march along the newly made road so recently tra- 
versed by Johnson and his army. His force was disposed in 
five columns, marching at a distance of thirty paces apart. 



About half an liour, or near an hour after this I got two Indians and two soldiers 
to go on foot with another letter to the same purpose. 

" About twelve o'clock that night the Indians and soldiers returned with a wag- 
goner who had stole from the camp, with about eight others their waggoners and 
forces without orders. This waggoner says they heard and saw the enemy about 
four miles this side the carrying place. They heard a gun fife, and a man call 
upon heaven for mercy, which he judged to be Adams." — Gen. Johnson to the o-ov- 
ernors of the several colonies, Sept. 9th, 1755. 0' Ccdlaghan' s Docy. Hist. N. T., 
vol. II, p. 401-2. 

' Documents relating to the Colonial History of N. T., vol. x, p. 317. 

" Vaudreuil's relation. Ibid, p. 331. 



288 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBUEY. 

The regular troops forming the centre were led by the baron, 
in person, while on either flank was a column of Canadians and 
another of Indians. The latter were obliged, in order to main- 
tain their front, to wade morasses and streams, thread the tan- 
gled underbrush of the forest and climb the hills on their route. 
Nevertheless the force moved with considerable celerity, reach- 
ing the heights just north of Brown's half-way house, at about 
eight o'clock in the morning. Here he was met by some scouts 
who brought in two English prisoners, from whom he derived 
the intelligence that General Johnson had fortified and in- 
trenched the English camp, that he was in possession of twelve 
cannon from thirty pounders down. And, " that a large body 
of English and Indians were following them on their v/ay to re- 
inforce Fort Lydius." — In consequence of this information, a 
halt was ordered, the Canadians and Indians deposited their 
packs, and in light marching order were instructed to place 
themselves in ambush on the side hill west of the road, which 
was occupied by Dieskau with his regular troops.^ 

In the mean time an express arrived at the English camp 
with the intelligence that he had seen a large body of the 
enemy, a few miles to the north of Fort Lyman. In the morn- 
ing following, a council of war was held to determine a plan of 
procedure, at which it was resolved to send out a small party to 
reconnoitre and harrass the enemy's flanks as they appoached. 
King Hendrick, the celebrated chief of the Mohawks, being 
asked for his opinion, replied : "If they are to fight they are too 
few, if they are to be killed they are too many." It was sub- 
sequently proposed to divide the party into three detachments. 
The brave old sachem remonstrated, and forcibly illustrated 
the folly of the suggestion by picking up three sticks and bind- 
ing them together saying: "You see now that these cannot 
easily be broken ; but take them one by one, and you may break 



' Vaudrueil's relation. Colonial Documents, vol. x, p. 321. Local tradition states 
that, to screen their advance and conceal their numbers, Dieskau's soldiers cut 
down branches from the trees, and bore them like Malcolm's forces who carried 
Birnam wood to Dunsinane. 

Hoyt says that Dieskau's regulars occupied the centre and the flanks, consisting 
of Canadians and Indians, were arranged in double potences, i.e. facing inward like 
two sides of a holiow square. 

An account in the Documents relating to the Colonial Ilistory of New York, 
vol. X, p. 342, states that the right wing consisted of Canadians, and the left of 
Indians, and were thrown forward forming a cul de sac with Dieskau's regulars 
for the base. 



COUNCIL OF WAR. 289 

them at once.^ The council of war adopted in part the chief's 
advice, and one thousand men, under the command of Col. 
Ephraim Williams (a), of the Massachusetts levies, and tv70 

' Drake's Book of the Indians. Book v, p. 40, eighth edition. 
{a) Col. Ephraim Williams was born in the year 1714, in Newton, Massa- 
chusetts, which was then a frontier settlement, exposed to all the horrors of an 
annual Indian invasion, with its usual accompaniments of ruthless reprisal and 
vindictive massacre. His childhood and youth were passed among scenes of daily 
peril, which must have had a strong controlling influence in the formation of liis 
character, fitting him for those positions of trust and responsibility, which in after 
years he filled with such becoming honor. 

He came of Welch stock, his ancestors having immigrated from Wales about 
1630, only ten years after the landing of the pilgrim fathers. They at first settled 
at Roxbury, Mass., where it is believed the grandfather of the subject of this 
sketch ofiiciated as a minister of the gospel. 

So far as we can, at this distance of time, judge of the colonel's character, it 
partook largely of those elements which has placed New England, despite its 
" barren sands and rock bound shores," in the vanguard of material prosperity as 
well as moral purity, and intellectual supremacy. Deprived of his parents in child- 
hood, he became the protege of Abraham Jackson, his maternal grandfather, and 
was early trained to commercial pursuits. In the prosecution of these, he made 
several voyages to Europe, during which he visited England, Spain and Holland, 
adding largely to his self-dependence, and by his ready powers of observance accu- 
mulating a valuable fund of jinformation, with which to grace the positions of 
trust to which he was soon to be called. 

When the French war of 1740 broke out, he was settled at Stockbridge. His supe- 
rior acquirements and executive ability, added to his military talent and taste pointed 
him out as the suitable military commandant of his district, and he was accordingly 
commissioned as captain, and was entrusted with the charge of all the Massachu- 
setts line of forts west of the Connecticut river. To meet the exigencies of this 
important command, he made his head quarters at Fort Massachusetts, " which 
stood not far from the north-eastern end of Saddle mountain, within the present 
township of Adams, and on the eastern border of Hoosac river. " 

Already a few adventurous pioneers had commenced a settlement within the 
present township of Williamstown. The struggles and denials of these hardy 
settlers, excited the commiseration and lively sympathy of Col. Williams, and even 
at that early date, while furnishing them protection and deliverance from the in- 
cursions of their savage foe, he gave them intimations of his future beneficence 
and care. 

A letter of his, now extant, dated Northfield, 12th October, 1745, apprises the 
colonial commissioners at Albany, of an attack by the French and Indians upon 
the frontier posts of New England. 

In August, 1746, with what force could be conveniently spared from the thinly 
garrisoned forts under his command, he joined Gov. Clinton at Albany, in the long 
talked of, but never executed project of invasion against the French settlements 
at the north. During his absence, Fort Massachusetts was invested, and after a 
gallant resistance, captured by the enemy, under Rigaud de Vaudreuil, and its 
small garrison taken prisoners to Canada. 

In 1748, Fort Massachusetts, having been rebuilt, was garrisoned with one 
hundred men, and again placed in the charge of Col. Ephraim Williams, the com- 
mand of the northern and western frontier being devolved upon Col. John Stoddard, 
37 



290 HISTOEY OP THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

hundred Mohawks led by King Hendrick, the sachem of the 
upper castle of that tribe, were detailed for this service. Before 
starting, King Hendrick mounted a gun carriage, and addressed 

of Northampton, his superior officer. On the 2d of Auprust, a party of 200 French 
and Indians invested the fort. A scouting party of four men was fired upon, 
which first betrayed the presence of the enemy. Capt. Williams sallied forth at 
the head of thirty men to their relief. He succeeded in rescuing them but was 
drawn into an ambush, by which he afid his little force were placed in imminent 
jeopardy, a party of thirty Indians moving in his rear to intercept his return. By 
determined bravery and rapidity of movement, however, he succeeded in reaching 
the fort with the loss of one man killed and two wounded, one of whom was 
Lieutenant Hawley. The French account of this aflFair, with customary gasconade 
reports five Englishmen killed, while the French loss was one Huron and one Iro- 
quois wounded. As they had no artillery, after a desultory musketry fire of more 
than two hours, the French retired from the contest. 

In recognition of his great military abilities he was in 1754-5, successively pro- 
moted to the grade of major, lieutenant colonel and colonel. With the opening 
of the campaign of the latter year he, with his regiment, was assigned to duty on 
the northern frontier, and his command was ordered to rendezvous at Albany. 
While there, on the 22d of July, he made his will, with what foreboding or pre- 
science of his impending fate none can say. 

" In this instrument, after giving certain legacies to his connections, he directed, 
that the remainder of his land should be sold, at the discretion of his executors, 
within five years after an established peace ; and that the interest of the monies, 
arising from the sale, and also the interest of his notes and bonds, should be ap- 
plied to the support of a free school in a township west of Fort Massachusetts 
provided the said township fell within Massachusetts bay, upon running the line 
between that province and New York, provided the said township when incor- 
porated should be called W^illiamstown. 

" The property designated in this bequest, was loaned on interest ; and, after 
an accumulation of thirty years, was considered as a fund sufficient to warrant the 
institution of the free school contemplated in the will. The spot pointed out was, 
June 30th, 1785, incorporated by the name of Williamstown. In 1785, nine gentle- 
men were appointed trustees for the management of the donation, and the free, 
school to which it was to give birth. In 1788, thej' voted to erect a building. The 
legislature granted them a lottery, which yielded $4,000, and the inhabitants con- 
tributed $2,000 more. In 1790, they built a brick edifice, eighty-two feet in length, 
and forty-two in breadth, of four stories, on the middle eminence in the principal 
street It contained twenty-eight rooms and a chapel. The expense of erecting 
it was 11,700 dollars, and the remainder of the fund was about the same sum. 

" The school was opened in October, 1791, under the superintendency of Mr. 
Ebenezer Fitch, now Rev. Dr. Fitch, president of Williams College. It consisted 
of two establishments, an academy, and an English free school, and, under the 
direction of this gentleman, immediately became prosperous. A considerable 
number of students resorted to it from Massachusetts and the neighboring states, 
and even from Canada. In 1793, the legislature, being informed of its flourishing 
condition, erected it into a college, by the name of Williams College. The trustees 
of the free school were by the act of incorporation, constituted, together with four 
other gentlemen, including the president, trustees of the college. The trustees 
may be seventeen in number ; may fill all vacancies in their board ; and may hold 
property, the annual income of which shall be 20,000 dollars. In October of the 



IISTDIAN ELOQUENCE. 291 

his followers in a strain of thrilling eloquence, that at once 
aroused their courage, and kindled their ferocious passions 
for the approaching fray. An eye witness, who did not under- 
stand a word of what was said, described it as the most affecting 
speech he ever heard. ^ 

The road, recently made, followed the course of a ravine ex- 
tending from the head of the lake nearly due south for a distance 
of several miles. The detachment headed by Colonel Williams 
took this route at nine o'clock in the morning, and in conse- 
quence of the intelligence received at midnight, supposed the 
enemy to be still in the vicinity of Fort Lyman ; and probably 
moved forward with less precaution than he would have done, 
if he had supposed the enemy nearer. At a point about two miles 
south of the encampment, near a place now known as Hendrick's 
spring, he halted, and was joined by the detachment of Mo- 
hawks, who, with their chief, passed to the front, and at ten 
o'clock resumed the march. King Hendrick was mounted on 
a small horse, loaned for the occasion, by his friend the general.^ 
Flanking parties were now thrown out, which advanced, cau- 
tiously beating the dense woods on the right and left. 

About one-third of a mile south of Bloody pond the ravine, 

same year the college commenced its operations by the admission of three classes 
of students. In 1794, a lot was purchased, and a house built for the president. 
The same year the legislature granted to the college 4,000 dollars ; and in 1796, 
two townships of land in the district of Maine. One of these townships was sold 
the following year for 10,000 dollars. With this sum, and an addition of 2,400 
dollars, the trustees erected another brick building, one hundred and four feet in 
length, twenty-eight in breadth, of four stories, and containing thirty-two 
chambers." ' — DicigJit's Travels. 

From the scanty personal memorials of Col. Williams, now in existence, we 
glean the fact that he was a large, fleshy man, of fine and imposing exterior, of a 
kindly heart and pleasing address ; and, as a matter of course, enthusiastically 
beloved and looked up to by the men in his command. 

' " Lieutenant Colonel Pomeroy who was present, and heard this effusion of In- 
dian eloquence, told me, that, although he did not understand a word of the lan- 
guage, yet such was the animation of Hendrick, the fire of his eye, the force of his 
gesture, the strength of his emphasis, the apparent propriety of the inflexions of 
his voice, and the natural appearance of his whole manner, that himself was more 
deeply affected with this speech, than with any other which he had ever heard. — 
DicigJit's Travels, vol. in, p. 357. 

^ He lost his life by riding on horseback on one of Gen. Johnson's horses. His 
horse was shot under him, and he, being unwieldy and not able to disengage him- 
self and get away, was stabbed with a bayonet. T. Pownall to the Lords of 
Trade. — Documents Relating to the Colonial History of N. Y., vol. vi, p. 1008. 

1 For most of these facts I am indebted to the History of Williams College, written by the Rev. 
Dr. Fitch, and published in Hist. Coll., vol. vm. 



292 



HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 



through which "Williams's detachment proceeded, is narrowed 
by the abrupt shoulder of a hill projecting from the west, while 
on the east the sharp acclivity and rugged sides of French 
mountain abut the narrow defile. At its base creep the shim- 
mering waters of a rivulet known as Rocky brook. When 
within a short distance of the ambush, a herd of deer, probably 
driven forward by the French advance, rushed violently down 
the defile, and effected their escape by breaking through the 
ranks of the advancing party. Still, no apprehensions were en- 
tertained of the proximity of the enemy, and they continued to 
advance in fearless confidence, the entire command marching 
in double files along the road, until entered some distance 
within the jaws of the ambuscade, when reaching a small emi- 




SOIENGARAHTAH, OR KING HENDRICK 



nence, t!.e keen sighted Ilendrick suddenly halted and ex- 
claimed to Williams who was near him : "I scent Indians." A 
few Mohawks pushed out into the thick undergrowth of bushes, 
and the detachment moved cautiously forward for a short dis- 



KING HENDRICK. 293 

tance, when one of the French allies called out " whence came 
you ? " " From the Mohawks," was the reply, " whence came 
you ? " returned Hendrick, to which was answered Montreal, ac- 
companied with a few scattering shots, followed shortly by the 
terrific Indian war-whoop, and a destructive volley of musketry 
from the woods and rocks on the right. Shortly afterward, a 
heavy fire was poured in by the Canadians on the left. King 
Hendrick's horse was killed by the first fire, and he was soon 
after despatched with a bayonet.' ^ The advancing files of Pro- 
vincials, wholly unprepared for the unexpected encounter, made 
but a feeble resistance while at the first alarm the Mohawks took 
promptly to cover, (a) 

' " The Mohawks stood their ground and fought bravely, until Hendrick fell, 
shot through the back, when they were thrown into confusion. The dying chief, 
with an Indian's pride, spent his latest breath in lamentations, lest such a death 
might leave a stain upon his memory.'' — Durfee's Hist, of Williams College, p. 44 
The version given in the text is doubtless the correct one. 

{a) SoiENGARAHTAH, Or KiNG Hendrick, as he was more commonly known to 
the English, was the Tekarahogea, or great war chief of the Iroquois confederacy, 
for nearly the first half of the eighteenth century, and for the same length of time 
held the proud preeminence as head sachem of the powerful Mohawk tribe. Of 
his birth, parentage, infancy and childhood, but very scanty memorials exist. 
There are circumstances on record which lead to the inference that he may have 
been born somewhere from 1680 to 1690. It is generally conceded that he was one 
of the Indians referred to by Addison in his account of the Mohocks published 
about the year 1713. He was a savage of more than ordinary humanity, com- 
manding talents, and influence, great judgment and skill, and as an orator unex- 
celled, as many anecdotes still related of him go to show. He visited England 
again about the year 1740, where he received many attentions and was the reci- 
pient of several valuable presents, among which was the celebrated suit of green 
and gold and fine brussels lace presented by his majesty, George the Second. In 
this, the portrait was taken from which our illustration is copied. The earlier por- 
tion of his life was passed at the upper castle of the Mohawks, now known as 
Canajoharie ; afterward he made his residence at or near a place called the 
Nose on the north side of the Mohawk river. During all his life he was the 
fast friend and firm ally of the English, and doubtless contributed more than any 
other one cause toward retaining for that nationality the services and good will 
of the turbulent, restless and warlike tribe, of which he was for years the constant 
inspiration and controlling spirit. Some of his speeches are on record, and of them 
it has been justly said, " they contain strains of eloquence which might have done 
honor to Tully or Demosthenes." 

He was almost idolized by his tribe who followed him to the field far or near 
with all that implicit confidence and faith which even among the Caucassian races 
characterize the following of a brave and successful leader. The map of the en- 
gagement at the head of Lake George, shows that Hendrick had advanced fear- 
lessly far within the ambush planted by the French general ; and his corpulent 
form, arrayed in its brilliant uniform mounted upon a white pony, made him a 
conspicuous target for his hereditary enemies. The late Judge William Hay, 
wliose scholarly acquirements, patient research, and careful investigation entitle 



294 ' HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

Colonel Williams, perceiving the firing to be the heaviest 
from the ascent to the right, ordered his troops to charge up 
the hill with the hope of turning the enemy's flank, and gain- 
ing a more elevated and commanding position. This was 
attempted, but they had no sooner changed front and advanced, 
than a destructive volley was poured in upon them from the 
thickly guarded summit, and the thinned ranks, stunned, 
swayed backward, closed up in a confused mob and fled panic 
stricken from the scene of action. Colonel Williams fell dead 
at the head of his column.^ The command now devolved 
upon Lieut. Colonel Whiting, who, after a while, succeeded in 
restoring a degree of order among the fugitives. 

A temporary stand was made at the Bloody pond, behind 
which the troops rallied, and the French were held in check 
for several minutes by the determined and resolute bravery of 
the Provincials. Compelled at length from the numerical superi- 
ority of the enemy to give way, they resumed their retreat, 
constantly holding the pursuers in check by a scattering but 
well aimed fire from every cover, which could be made available 
on the route. The echoes of the protracted firing, had been 
heard with gradually approaching nearness at the head of the 
lake, and hurried preparations were made for placing the camp 
in a defensible condition, for as yet no line of intrenchments 
had been thrown up, or any cover, redout, rifle pit or fortifica- 
tion constructed to retard the progress of the enemy. The 
trunks of the trees, already fallen, were hastily piled up as a sort 
of rude breast work in front, while the flanks and rear were 
protected by seven field pieces and two mortars. The roadway 

his opinions to great weiglit and consideration, after making several measure- 
ments and looking the ground well over, reached the conclusion that he had found 
the place where the old Sachem fell by the side of a boulder which crowns a lull 
a short distance north of Mr. George Brown's Hotel, and which he designated and 
marked as King Hendrick's rock. A monument at this point would be but a 
fitting tribute to the brave chieftain's devotion and chivalry.^ 

' Notwitlistanding sundry guide books to the contrary, all accounts worthy 
of credit, concur in stating that Col. Williams fell at the head of his column in the 
early part of the engagement. He was shot through the head, and fell dead upon 
the spot. His body was hidden by two of his comrades, near the rock which 
bears his name to prevent its mutilation by the savages. After the action it was 
buried by the side of the old military road at the foot of a pine tree. This place 
was originally designated by a small granite slab marked E. W. 

About forty years since, Dr. William H. Williams (nephew of the colonel) of 
Raleigh, N. C, exhumed the skull, and carried it off. The statement that the 

' Compiled chiefly from the acconnt contained in SchoolcrafVs Notes on the Iroquois, p. 413. 



THE BLOODY MORNING SCOUT. 295 

was also commanded by four large caunon advantageously 
posted. While these dispositions were being made, Lieutenant 
Colonel Cole was despatched with three hundred men to the 
assistance and relief of the defeated detachment. He met the 
flying troops a little to the north of the Bloody pond, and 
checked, by a well timed volley, the pursuit of the enemy, and 
covered the retreat of the fugitives into camp. So furious and 
disastrous had been this brief engagement, that on reaching 
camp, the numbers of the French were greatly magnified by 

entire remains were subsequently removed is doubtless an error. The pine bas 
fallen, but two tbrifty scions, till within a few years, shaded the grave where the 
warrior sleeps. 

When the monument was put up, the grave was refilled and a pyramidal 
boulder still remaining, placed upon it, bearing the plain inscription E. W. 
1755. In the year 1854, a plain marble shaft was placed by the alumni of 
Williams College, upon the rock which bears his name. It contains the follow 
ing inscriptions. 

EAST SIDE. 

To the memory of COLONEL EPHR AIM WILLIAMS. 
A native of Newton, Mass., who, after gallantly defend- 
ing the frontiers of his native state, served under 
General Johnson against the French and Indians, and 
nobly fell near this spot in the bloody conflict of Sept. 
8th, 1755, in the 42d year of his age. 

NORTH SIDE. 
A lover of peace and learning, as courteous and gene- 
rous as he was brave and patriotic, Col. Williams 
sympathized deeply with the privations of the frontier 
settlers, and by his will, made at Albany, on his way to 
the field of battle, provided for the founding among 
them of an institution of learning, which has since been 
chartered as Williams College. 

"WEST SIDE. 

Forti ac magnanimo EPH. WILLIAMS, Collegii 
Gulielmi Conditori ; Qui in hostibus patriae repellendis, 
prope hoc saxum cecidit ; grati alumni posuerunt, A. 
D. 1854. 

SOUTH SIDE. 

This Monument is erected by the alumni of William's 
College; the ground donated by E. H. ROSEKRANS, 
M. W. PERRINE, J. HAVILAND. 

This monument and the scenes around it are now classic ground to every 
educated American, and are annually visited by hundreds, eager to pay the tri- 
bute of a pilgrimage to the shrine of a hero and patriot. 



296 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

the terrified survivors, while, as usual on such occasions, their 
own powers and achievements were greatly exaggerated. 

Thus terminated the battle long known in fireside story and 
oral tradition, as the bloody morning scout, which resulted 
in disaster and humiliation to the English cause, and well nigh 
terminated the fortunes of the day. The loss of the English in 
this encounter was two hundred and sixteen dead, and ninety- 
six wounded.^ Among the officers slain were Colonel Williams ; 
Major Ashley; Captains Hawley, Porter, and Ingersoll; Lieu- 
tenants Cobb, Pomeroy,and Burt ; Ensigns Stratton and "Wait, of 
Col. Williams's regiment alone.^ Also Captain Farrell, brother- 
in-law of Gen. Johnson, who was in command of a party of In- 
dians, Captains Stoddard, Kies and Stevens, all of whom were 
noted as Indian fighters,^ and officers of ability and repute. 
The French and their Indian allies also lost heavily in this af- 
fair. Among the killed was M. de St. Pierre, the leader of the 
Indians, an officer of distinction and merit, whose loss was 
greatly deplored by the savages under his command. But few 
prisoners were taken on either side, as nearly all were de- 
spatched by the tomahawk and scalping knife as soon as they 
had fallen, both parties being at short intervals in possession of 
the battle-field. Of the Mohawks thirty-eight were killed, and 
twelve wounded. Those who survived declined further partici- 
pation in the action of the day. They still remained with the 
army to watch the fortunes of the battle, and seize upon any 
opportunity which might present to secure scalps. They be- 
wailed the loss of their brave and fkvorite chief, and it was with 
difficulty that they were restrained after the battle from execut- 
ing their vengeance on the persons of the unfortunate captives. 

' Letter from Dr. Williams, surgeon of Col. Williams's regiment, quoted by 
Dicight in bis Iravels, vol. in, p. 354. 

* Gen. Johnson to the governors of the several colonies. Doc'y. Ilist. N. T., vol. 
II, p. 693. 

" Very few were made prisoners, for the principal part that fell into the hands 
of the enemy were dispatched with the tomahawk, among whom was Captain 
Porter. He was seized by the Indians, tied to a tree, and barbarously hacked in 
pieces." — Hoyt's Antiquarian BesearcJies, p. 278. 

' " Captain Kies was a soldier under the unfortunate Lovewell, in the expedition 
against the Pigwackets, in 1734, and was there severely wounded. In the retreat 
of Williams's shattered detachment, he received a mortal wound, was left resting 
against a tree and tomaliawked. Like Lieutenant Bobbins in Lovewell's aflfair, 
he retjucstcd his friends to leave him a loaded musket, and when the Indians 
came up, the rei)ort of his gun was heard, and the next day he was found mangled 
at the place where he was left." — Id. 



DEATH OF KING HENDRICK. 297 

The son of Hendrick on being iuformed that bis father was 
killed, gave the usual groan ou such occasions, and suddenly 
putting his hand on his left breast, swore that his father was 
still alive in that place, and stood there in his son.^ The san- 
guinary skirmish just recorded, was partly fought within the 
present limits of the town of Queensbury. 

Intent upon following up his success, Dieskau pressed on at 
the head of his regulars, who moved steadily forward in the 
narrow roadway, until within musket shot of the barricade, when 
they commenced tiring by platoons.^ In his eftbrt to urge the 
Canadians forward on the flank, the brave baron received three 
gun shot wounds in the thighs of both legs, which at once dis- 
abled him, and he was placed for security behind a tree. About 
the same time a fierce assault was made on the right of the 
English camp by the Canadians and Indians. The echoes of 
the artillery, however, speedily discouraged the latter and they 
soon retired from the conflict, and seeing the enemy retreating, 
the sturdy provincials leaped the barricade and followed hotly 

' Drake's Book oftlie Indians.. — Book v, p. 40. 

" About half an hour after eleven, the enemy appeared in sipfht, and marched 
along the road in very regular order directly upon our centre ; they made a small 
halt about 150 yards from our breast- work, when the regular troops (whom we 
judged to be such by their bright and fixed bayonets) made the grand and centre 
attack. The Canadians and Indians squatted and dispersed on our flanks. The 
enemy's fire we received first from their regulars in platoons, but it did no great 
execution, being at too great a distance, and our men defended by the breast-work. 
Our artillery then began to play on them, and was served under the direction of 
Captain Eyre, during the whole engagement, in a manner very advantageous to 
his character, and those concerned in the management of it. The engagement 
now became general on both sides. The French regulars kept their ground and 
order for some time with great resolution and good conduct, but the warm and 
constant fire from our artillery and troops put them into disorder ; their fire be- 
came more scattered and unequal, and the enemy's fire on our left grew very 
faint. They moved then to the right of our encampment, and attacked Colonel 
Euggles, Colonel Williams, and Colonel Titcomb's regiment, where they main- 
tained a very warm fire for near an hour, still keeping up their fire in the other 
parts of our line tho' not very strong. The three regiments on the right supported 
the attack very resolutely, and kept a constant and strong fire upon the enemy. 
This attack failing, and the artillery still playing along the line, we found their 
fire very weak, with considerable intervals. This was about four o'clock, when 
our men and the Indians jumped over the breast-work, pursued the enemy, slaugh- 
tered numbers, and took several prisoners, amongst whom was the Baron de Dies- 
kau, the French general of all the regular forces lately arrived from Europe, who 
was brought to my tent about six o'clock, just as a wound I had received was 
dressed. Th^vhole engagement and pursuit ended about seven o'clock." Gen. 
Johnson to the Board of Trade. Body Hist, of JH. Y., vol. ii, p. 693. 
38 



298 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

in pursuit for some distance. The command of the French 
forces now devolved upon the Chevalier de Moutreuil, who or- 
dered the retreat to be sounded, after vainly endeavoring to 
persuade the baron to be carried from the field on a litter. A 
little while later, the baron was again shot through the hips by 
a renegade Frenchman, who approaching him to rifle liim, mis- 
took a movement of the baron, who put his hand in his pocket 
to surrender his watch, and supposed that he was hunting for a 
pistol to shoot him. The general exclaimed " You rascal why 
did 3'ou fire at me ? you see a man lying on the ground bathed 
in blood, and you fire, Eh ?" He answered " how did I know 
but you had a pistol ? I prefer to kill the devil, than that the 
devil kill me." " You are a Frenchman, then ? " " Yes" he re- 
plied. " It is more than ten years since I left Canada."^ The 
baron, after being plundered and stripped, was conveyed to the 
English camp, and every pains taken to render his condition 
comfortable. He was afterwards conveyed in a litter to Fort 
Edward, and thence to New York, where he complained bitterly 
of falling into the hands of unskillful surgeons. He went to 
England and was not exchanged until after peace was declared. 
He died about the commencement of the American revolution, 
of the wounds received in this engagement. Early in the ac- 
tion General Johnson received a painful wound in the hip which 
disabled him from any further duty. The command of the 
English forces fell upon Major General Lyman, who with great 
spirit and energy conducted the defense and to whom a great 
portion of the day's success is justly due. 

The same morning, intelligence being brought by Indian 
runners to Fort Lyman, that some wagoners on the Avay to 
Lake George had been waylaid and killed, a party of sixty men 
belonging to a 'New Plampshire regiment, was sent out to scour 
the woods, which, on the report of the firing in th.e morning 
engagement, was strengthened by a reinforcement of two hun- 
dred men from the New York, and New Hampshire regiments, 
under the command of Capt. McGinnis, with orders to proceed 
to the assistance of the troops at the head of the lake. When 
they had reached a point in the road about four miles from the 
head of the lake, they came upon the enemy's baggage (for it 
seems the French had no thought and had made no provision 
for an attack in the rear), under the guard of five*or six men, 

^ Documents relating to tJie Colonial History of New York, vol. x, p. 3-43. 



BLOODY POND. 299 

who had clambered to the top of a neighboring eminence to ob- 
tain a lookout towards the lake. Placing a heavy ambush in 
the vicinity of the baggage and making their way, unperceived 
by the guard, they passed over the hill and came unexpectedly 
upon a party of three hundred Canadians and Indians who were 
sitting by a small body of water in the valley beyond. 

These were skulkers who had dropped out of Dieskau's ranks, 
and were refreshing themselves from the contents of their packs 
as they were seated around the margin of the pond. The pro- 
vincial officers, urged on by their men, determined to make an 
attack, and cautiously surrounded the enemy without being dis- 
covered. At a given signal a withering lire was delivered, 
which slaufijhtered o-reat numbers. 

The few survivors sprang up and before being put to flight 
rallied to the attack and a fierce skirmish ensued, in which 
twelve of the Americans were killed, and Captains McGinnis 
and Folsom, their commanding officers, were seriously wounded. 
It was in this famous affair that the celebrated ranger and scout 
Robert Rogers made his debut in action.^ The Baron de Lon- 
gueil who was \p. command of the Canadians and Indians, was 
also reported as being mortally wounded at this time.^ Tradi- 
tion stares that the bodies of the dead, to the number of two 
hundred and upwards, were rolled into the pool, and that sur- 
vivors of the action walked dry shod over the pond on the piled 
up corpses. For weeks the waters bore the sanguinary stain 
of the carnage, and gave to this stagnant forest pool, the sig- 
nificant name of Bloody pond.^ After defeating this party, 

^ Hoyt's Antiquarian Researches, p. 281. 

" Relation of M. de Vaudreuil. Doc's, relating to the Colonial Hist, of N. Y., 
vol. x.-p. 323. 

' " Immediately beyond Fort Edward the country assumed a dreary, cheerless 
aspect. Between this and Lake George, a distance of about twelve miles, it was 
almost an entire wood, acquiring a deeper gloom, as well from the general preva- 
lence of pines, as from its dark, extended covert being presented to the imagination 
as an appropriate scene for the treasons, stratagems and spoils of savage hostility. 
It was in this tract of country that several actions had been fought ; that Baron 
Dieskau had been defeated ; and that American blood had flowed, as well as En- 
glish and French ; in commemoration of which, the terror we attach to the adven- 
titious circumstances which seem to accelerate man's doom, had given to a 
piece of standing water, near the road the name ' Bloody pond.' The descending 
sun had shed a browner horror on the wilderness ; and as we passed the dismal 
pool, we experienced that transient emotion of commiseration, which is natural 
to the mind, when contemplating past events, involving the fall of friends, the 
fortune of war and the sad lot of human kind. Denique ob casus hcUorum et 
aortem Iwminum." — Graydon's Memoirs. 



300 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBUET. 

the English detachment in pursuance of orders contyiued on 
towards the camp, and came up just as the French were retreat- 
ing, firing upon them, taking several prisoners and giving the 
finishing stroke to their defeat.^ Of the French who escaped, 
several who went in good faith to take their baggage were 
killed.^ The scene of this ambuscade is supposed to be at the 
crest of the hill just north of George Brown's half-way-house. 
After sundown the stragglers of the Canadians and Indians, 
joined the regulars who had escaped to the mountain, and half 
a league further on, thej bivouacked for the night. The locality 
of this halt is believed to have been at the outlet of the Big 
pond, at the foot of French mountain. 

Thus terminated this eventful day, in which the first English 
victory of the campaign had been achieved; the untaught pro- 
vincials found themselves matched against, and conquerors of 
the disciplined troops, fresh from continental fields of fame. 
Its remote bearings and immediate effects cannot well be over 
estimated, being'most important to the future of the American 
colonists, and the success of the English arms. England 
promptly recognized its value by conferring on General John- 
son, a baronetcy, and ^5000, the only titular acknowledgment 
ever made by the British crown to its colonial dependents. 

This day's work, whose leading events have been here re- 
corded, was but the terrible prelude to the tragic scenes of a 
series of frontier struggles which blended the tramp of mar- 
shalled hosts, the clash of arms, the savage yell of defiance, the 
bugle call of alarm and the psean of victory; that only ter- 
minated in the expulsion of the French from that broad domain 
which stretches from the head waters of the Beautiful river 
to the frigid fastnesses of the Arctic circle. In this protracted 
struggle the long line of the wilderness border, of which Queens- 
bury was the centre, was sodden with the life blood of five 
generations of warriors, comprising the flower of our forest 
chivalry. The remainder of the season was consumed in com- 

Alexander Graydon was despatched by the continental authorities, in the first 
year of the revolutionary war, with a quantity of specie to pay off the troops under 
Schuyler in the northern department. At Fort Edward he met, on their return, 
Franklin, Carroll, and Chase, the commissioners who had been fruitlessly de- 
8i)atched by congress, to induce the Canadians to join the Americans in throwing 
off the British yoke. It was on this excursion that the foregoing was written. 

' T. Pownall to the lords of trade. Documents relating to the Colonial Hist, of 
N.Y. Seevol. vi,p. 1008. 

"^ Ihid, vol. X, p. 323. M. de Vaudreuil to M. de Machault. 



FORT WILLIAM HENRY. 301 

pleting the defenses at the head of Lake George, and the erec- 
tion of a substantial fortification, which was named in honor of 
William Henry ' the duke of Cumberland, and brother of King 
George the third. 



' Col. Montressor, in a communication to Capt. Greeh, states that " Major 
Eyre began Fort William Henry, in September, and it was finished by the end 
of November, following, being an irregular square of about 300 feet each side with 
Provincials alone and that without any expense." — Doc. Hist, of N. T., vol. rv, 
p. 525. 

William Etke was appointed, 7th January, 1756, major of the 44th foot 
which suffered so much in Braddock's expedition ; he built, the same year. Fort 
William Henry, at the head of Lake George, since celebrated by Col. Munro's 
gallant defense of that post in 1757. In January, 1758, Maj. Eyre was commis- 
sioned engineer in ordinary ; and in July following, lieutenant colonel in the 
army, and afterwards lieutenant colonel of the 55th. In the course of Amherst's 
campaign, he was engaged in strengthening Fort Edward, and in July, 1759, was 
appointed chief engineer of the army, and soon after laid out the ground for a 
new fon at Ticonderoga. In the month of October, 1759, he became lieutenant 
colonel of his old regiment, the 44th. He accompanied Amherst from Oswego to 
Montreal in 1760, and remained in America until 1764, in the fall of which year 
he was unfortunately drowned, in the prime of his life, on his passage to Ireland. 
In his profession as an engineer, he was exceedingly eminent, and an honor to 
his country, having arrived at that rank solely by his merit. The service and the 
army, to whom he was a shining ornament, sustained a very considerable loss by 
his death. — Wilson's Orderly Book, p. 27-8, note. Munsell's Historical Series. 




302 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 




CHAPTER III. 

Events following the Battle at Lake George. — Engagement at 
THE Half-way brook, in 1756 — Incursion of Canadians and 
Indians under Marin — Prisoners Captured near Fort Ed- 
ward — Investment, Capitulation and Surrender of the 
Garrison at Fort William Henry — Scenes of Massacre 
FOLLOWING — Close of the Campaign on the Northern Border. 

^T an early period in the French war, a block house 
and stockaded enclosure had been erected at the 
Half-way brook/ partly as a depot for provisions, 
and military stores, and partly as a resting place for 
soldiers and teamsters on their way to and from the important 
posts of Fort William Henry and Fort Edward. The date of its 
construction would seem to have been in 1755, for in that year 
the French scouts and runners, reported to their chief tnat the 
English had erected posts eveiy two leagues from the head of 
Lake George to Albany, This post was strengthened and en- 
larged materially in 1759, and the name of Fort Amherst con- 
ferred upon it in honor of the commander-in-chief of the English 
army. It was situated on the north side of the brook, and to 
the west of the plank road leading to the head of Lake George. 
The old military road led across the brook about four rods 
above the present crossing. A part of the old abutments, tim- 
bers and causeway are yet visible. It was capable of accommo- 
dating upwards of eight hundred men, and was protected by 
redoubts, rifle pits, earthworks, and a palisade of hewn timbers.^ 

^ On a manuscript map of Lake George, entitled a plan of Lake George, and tlio 
country adjacent, on file in the State Library at Albany, Half-way brook is laid 
down as Sclioone creek. The map has no date but is evidently very old. 

Another manuscript map, compiled for the Earl of Loudoun, in 1757, has the Half 
way brook, marked as Forks creek. 

* In a communication to the author, dated May 20th, 1870, the venerable Dr. 
Lemuel C. Paine, of Albion, Orleans co. (since deceased), writes as follows : " The 
scenery about the crossing of the Half-way brook, as it then ap]ieared, is deeply im- 
pressed upon my mind. The house, as has been previously intimated, was built 
of logs. The chimney was large and built of bricks from the foundation, and had 
the appearance of having had at least one building burned around it before this 
was built. It was what was called a double log house. Before it, on the south 
side, stood two large trees commonly called in this country the balm of Gilead trees. 



ENGAGEMENT AT THE HALF WAT BROOK. 303 

During the summer of 1756, a force of six hundred Canadians 
and Indians attacked a baggage and provision train at the Half- 
way brook, while on its way from Fort Edward to the garrison 
at Fort William Plenry.' 

The oxen were slaughtered, the convoy mostly killed and 
scalped, and the wagons plundered of their goods and stores. 
Heavily laden with booty, the marauding party commenced its 
retreat towards South bay on Lake Charaplaiu. Embarking ia 
batteaux they were proceeding leisurely down the lake when 
they were overtaken by a party of one hundred rangers under 
the command of Captains Putnam and Rogers. These latter 
had with them two small pieces of artillery, and two blunder- 
busses, and at the narrows, about eight miles north of Whitehall, 
they crossed over from Lake George, and succeded in sinking 
several of the enemy's boats, and killing several of the oarsmen. 
A heavy south wind favored the escape of the remainder.^ 

Sometime in midsummer, Lord Loudoun visited Fort Edward, 
and Fort William Henry, and after the surrender of Oswego, 
moved so large a force in that direction, as to change the plans 
of the enemy, who had contemplated an attack upon that im- 
portant post at the head of Lake George. 

In Montcalm's official papers,^ and other French accounts of 
the campaign of 1756, it is stated that on the twenty-second of 
July in that year, a courier arrived at Isle Royal with the in- 
Some half a mile nortli-easterly of the house, more or less, were Walter Briggs'a 
mills, on the Half-way brook, the pondage of which setting back nearly or quite 
as far as the bridge near the house. On the east bank of which, and a little north 
of the house were the remains of the old barracks. (Elsewhere described as the 
Garrison ground). Here, and in their vicinity I have picked up small pieces 
of coin, bullets and other things pertaining to an encampment of soldiers quite 
plentifully. Over the brook north-westerly were the remains of intrenchments 
running in lines, longer or shorter for a considerable distance. I have walked all 
through these, and in many places I remember the sides of the ditches were higher 
than my head." ' 

' Fitch's Historical Survey, p. 916. In Trans. N. T. State Agricultural Society, 
for 1848. 

^ Kogers's journal contains no account corresponding to this affair, and but for 
the authority of Dr. Fitch, I should be inclined to look upon the account as apoc- 
. ryphal. 

' Vide Documents relating to the Colonial History of N". Y., vol. x, pp. 483, 488, 
533. A further account (p. 490) says there were iifty-two soldiers and three officers, 
and that only one escaped. One account asserts that the attacking party were all 
Indians, except the commanding officer. 

1 Among the manuscript maps in the State Libraiy at Albany, is one without date, hut very old 
on which'the post at Hail'-way brook is represented by Z3 laid' down just west of the old military- 
road and north of the creek. This would seem to Bettle the question of location. 



304 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURT, 

telligence that Lieut. Marin, of the French marine, having been 
despatched with one hundred men, and a party of Indians to 
reconnoiter the enemy's camp, they encountered near the head 
of Lake George a force of between fifty and sixty men ; that 
nearly all of them were killed, four being carried away as pri- 
soners, and only one of the party escaped to carry the news of 
the disaster to the Eno-Hsh commander. As this account makes 
no mention of baggage or oxen, it is supposed to have been 
one of the several murderous aflrays which have taken place 
at the Bloody pond ; and is not to be confounded with the 
affair previously narrated. A contemporaneous. account esti- 
mates the English force at the head of Lake George at about 
nine thousand men. 

About the same time a party of the Iroquois, led by a Cana- 
dian, stopped sixteen English horsemen on their way to Lake 
George. Of these nine were killed, and seven taken prisoners. 
The latter, with the plunder and horses, were taken to Carillon. 
On the second of Auo:ust, six cadets belonojins: to the French 
regulars, fell in with a party of fifteen English near Lake 
George, of whom thirteen were killed, and two made prisoners. ^ 

The campaign of 1757^ was prolific in scenes of bloodshed 

^Documents relating to the Colonial History of N. Y., vol. x, p. 530-1. 

* It was during this year as nearly as can be ascertained that the following 
events, related by the late Judge Hay, transpired., " During the, French war, 
three officers of whom Seth Warner was one while riding on horseback from 
Lake George towards Fort Edward, were waylayed between the Bloody pond and 
the upper picket p ist by Indians. At the only fire, which was a volley, Captain 
Coon was killed, as was another officer, whose name I have never known. War- 
ner's arm was broken, and his horse so disabled as to fall ; when its rider extri- 
cated himself, and on foot pursued Coon's horse nearly two miles to where, at the 
Meadow run, it stopped to drink. There Warner caught the uninjured horse, 
and, on his back, arrived, without further molestation, at Fort Edward, where 
surgical aid could be procured. The Sexagenary, p. 157, has the following version 
of the same affiiir. 

" While we held undisturbed possession of the posts at the north, it was a very 
common thing for the diffi-rent commanders to exchange visits. Colonel Warner 
of Fort Edward occasionally visited Fort George. On one of these occasions he 
was returning with two officers, all of them mounted on horseback. As they 
were passing the Bloody pond, where some hostile Indians had hid themselves 
behind an old tree, they received a volley of musketry from their concealed ene- 
mies. The two officers fell lifeless to the ground, and Colonel Warner was 
wounded as was the horse he rode. He put spurs to the bleeding animal and endea- 
vored to escape. One of the officer's horses followed him and the Indians pursued. 
As he rode on, his horse occasionally seemed ready to fall under him, and at other 
times would revive and appear to renew his strength. The other horse kept uj) with 
them, alternately increasing and relaxing his speed to keep pace with his wounded 



EXPEDITION AGAINST FORT WILLIAM HENRY. 305 

along the frontier. Early in January a plan was matured for 
the capture of Fort William Henry. A force of fifteen hun- 
dred, regulars, Canadian soldiers, militia and Indians, under 
the command of the Sieur deEigaud de Vaudreuil, governor of 
Three Rivers, divided in four detachments, left Fort St. John 
on the twentieth of February, and the three following days. 
Effecting a junction at Carillon, they advanced on the fifteenth 
of March, and on the seventeenth arrived within a league and 
a half of Fort William Henry. Tradition states that th'eir ap- 
proach was made in the direction of the bold promontory that 
stretches down into the head waters of the lake, and that it 
hence derived the name of Frendh mountain. Through the 
vigilance of Captain John Stark, the approach of the enemy 
was discovered, and although the investment of the fort was 
continued until the twenty-second, the Indians being in pos- 
session of the Fort Edward road, no material loss was sus- 
tained by the English, beyond the destruction of four brigan- 
tines and a number of long boats and batteaux. The French 
loss in this undertaking, according to their own ofiicial report, 
was five Frenchmen killed, and one officer and one Indian 
wounded.^ " The garrison at the time of this attack was in the 
command of Major William Eyre, the distinguished military en- 
gineer, who planned and superintended the erection of the fort. 
The enemy were provided with three hundred scaling ladders 
and other appliances for carrying the place by assault ; and with 
the great disparity of forces, would doubtless have succeeded, 

companion. Tlie colonel in vain endeavored to seize the bridle wliicli hung over 
his neck, an expedient which promised to save him if his own steed should fail. 
In this manner, and with all the horrid anticipation of a cruel death before him, 
he managed to outstrip his pursuers until he reached Wing's corner at Glen's 
Falls. There, as the uninjured horse came along side, he made another attempt 
to seize his bridle, and succeeded. He instantly dismounted, unslung the saddle, 
threw it over the fence, mounted the horse and rode off at full speed. He saw no 
more of his pursuers from this moment, but reached Fort Edward in safety ; over- 
come, however, by his exertion, fatigue, and the loss of blood. What was also 
singular, was the arrival of his wounded horse, which lived to do good service in 
the field." N. B. There was neither fence nor building at Wing's corner then. 

' Documents relating to the Colonial History of N. Y., vol. x, p. 545. Another 
version of the affair as given by M de Montcalm, Id., p. 549, states that the assail- 
ants destroyed by fire, " everything outside the fort, over 300 batteaux, 4 sloops, 
one of which was pierced for 16 guns, a saw-mill, a great pile of building timber 
and firewood, two magazines full of provisions and militarj- effects, a little stock- 
aded fort containing a dozen of houses or barracks to lodge the troops and their 
sick." 

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EXPEDITION AGAINST FORT WILLIAM HENRY. 307 

but for the spirited defense made. Early in the season small 
scalping parties infested the Lydins road, murdering and scalp- 
ing such stragglers as might be caught or ambushed from the 
camp at Fort Edward. This state of things was made the sub- 
ject of special appeal by Sir William Johnson to his friends and 
allies the Mohawks, to whom, as appears in his journal under 
the date of May 20th, he sent four strings of black wampum, to 
let their people know that the French and Indians had begun to 
scalp and take prisoners." ^ 

On the fifth of June, a detachment of ninety confederate In- 
dians in the French interest, under the leadership a of French 
officer attached to these nations who bad demanded of M. de 
Bourlamaque a sergeant and seven soldiers of the line whom 
he knew, ^ proceeded south, and avoiding the larger force at 
the head of the lake, attacked on the tenth a detail of pioneers 
with their escort between Fort Edward and Lake George, out 
of which they took four prisoners and three scalps, and suc- 
ceeded in effecting their return to the stronghold at Carillon 
without loss, although hotly pursued by the English, and forced 
to disperse. 

As early as the month of June, Montcalm had announced his 
intention of investing Fort William Henry, and had already 
gathered upwards of one thousand Indians, some of whom had 
come a distance of four or five hundred leagues to participate 
in the assault upon that important post. On the twelfth of 
July he left Montreal for Carillon, and stopping to chaunt the 
war song with various tribes of savages, reached that post on 
the eighteenth. Ilis presence was the signal for active prepa- 
rations to advance. One of his first movements was to dis- 
patch Lieut. Marin of the colonial forces with a detachment of 
one hundred and fifty men, mostly Indians, on a scout between 
the head of Lake George and Fort Edward. This partisan ar- 
rived near the latter post on the morning of July 23d. A 
patrol of ten men were first encountered, all of whom were 
killed. An advanced guard of fifty men met a like fate. A 
force of four thousand men was then advanced in line of battle 
and for two hours was exposed to a heavy fire from the enemy 
concealed in ambush; after which the latter retired with a loss 

^Sto}ie's Life and Times of Sir William Johnson, vol. ii, p. 29. 

" Documents relating to the Colonial History of N. Y., vol. x, p. 6G9. See also 
p. 579 or another account, in which the officer in command is named as the Sieur 
d'Anglade. 



308 HISTORY dF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURT. 

of one Canadian who died from exliaustion. The marauders 
bore off thirty-two scalps and one prisoner.^ On the 27th a 
grand council was held with the Indians ; on the 30th portions 
of the expedition commenced their march ; on the 3d of July the 
main force of regulars, with a siege train of artillery, debarked 
near the site of the old Caldwell mansion. The Chevalier de 
Levis was immediately sent forward in charge of the Indians to 
secure the Lydius road and the approaches to the fort from the 
south. During the succeeding six days, pending which, artillery 
firing, skirmishing, sorties and repulses were of daily occurence, 
Montcalm had advanced his parallels so near the fort that it 
was no longer tenable ; and on the ninth of August, Col. 
Monro having previously been informed by a communication 
forwarded by Montcalm, that he would not receive any assist- 
ance from General "Webb, at Fort Edward, hoisted the white 
flag and sent a messenger to demand terms of capitulation. 
These, if they had been observed, were honorable alike to the 
victors and the vanquished. 

Sufficient provision was made, according to the amenities of 
civilized warfare, for the protection of the prisoners of war, and 
the care of the sick and wounded, the munitions of war becom- 
ing as a matter of course, the property of the conquerors. Mont- 
calm's journal of the expedition states the French loss at 13 
killed and 40 wounded. The English loss he estimates in round 
numbers at two hundred. 

The reduction of Fort William Henry ,^ and the surrender of 
its ill fated garrison, were followed by scenes of slaughter and 
carnage, which find few parallels in the pages of history. 
" The war whoop was given, and the Indians began to murder 
those that were nearest to them without distinction. It is not 
in the power of words to give any tolerable idea of the horrid 
scene that now ensued; men, women, and children were dis- 
patched in the most wanton and cruel manner, and immediately 
scalped. Many of these savages drank the blood of their vic- 
tims as it flowed warm from the fatal wound." ^ 

" My tent had been placed in the middle of the encampment 

^ Documents relating to the Colonial Ilistori/ ofN. Y., vol. x, p. 503. Montcalm's 
journal of the expedition Id p. 599 states that 100 were killed, 38 scalped and two 
taken prisoners. 

^ Invariably called Fort George by the French in their official correspon- 
dence and repoits for 1757. 

" Carver's Travels, p. 176. 



INDIAN CANNIBALS. 309 

of the Outaouacs," writes Father Roubaud, a Jesuit missionary 
who accompanied Montcalm's expedition. " The first object 
which presented itself to my eyes on arriving there was a large 
fire, while the wooden spits fixed in the earth gave signs of a 
feast. There was indeed one taking place. But, Heaven ! 
what a feast ! The remains of the body of an Englishman was 
there, the skin stripped ofi^, and more than one-half of the flesh 
gone. A moment after I perceived these inhuman beings eat 
with famishing avidity of this human flesh ; I saw them taking 
up this detestable broth in large spoons, and apparently without 
being able to satisfy themselves with it. 

" They informed me that they had prepared themselves for 
this feast by drinking from skulls filled with human blood, 
while their smeared faces and stained lips gave evidence of the 
truth of the story." ^ 

No sooner had the articles of capitulation been signed, than 
the roadway and trails leading south were thronged by Indians, 
lying in wait for their victims. The savages, of whom there 
were three thousand present ^ representatives of thirty-three dis- 
tinct tribes, drawn from distances as far as the Ohio, Lake 
Superior and Lake Michigan on the west, and Acadia on the 
east, lured hither with the hope of plunder and carnage ; in- 
fiamed by long restrained passions, and infuriated by strong 
drink, which formed a part of their spoils, were in no mood to 
be robbed of their prey. Besides the stories of barbarity and 
cruelty, perpetrated on this occasion, tradition has handed down 
hints concerning valuables, money, jewelry and arms, thrown 
aside in the heat of pursuit, or abandoned when escape became 
hopeless, flung despairingly into the swamps and streams on 
the route of retreat. That Montcalm used his best endeavors 
to control and remedy the excesses of his savage allies, fair 
minded historians are willing to admit; but all too late he 
found he had employed forces beyond his control. He had 



' Kip's Jesuit Missions, p. 155. There is abundant evidence to sliow that there 
Tvpre several cannibal tribes assembled on this occasion. An official French de- 
tail of the campaign {Col. Hist. N. ¥., vol. x, p. G27), states that among the 
tribes present, were Foxes from the Mississippi and " Aoais from the 'Western 
sea, who never before appeared in the country." 

^" You know what it is to restrain 3000 Indians of 33 different nations, and I had 
but too many apprehensions which I did not conceal from the commandant of 
the fort in my summons." — Montcalm to Brig. Gen'l Webb 14th of Aug., 1757 
Doc'ts relating to the Col. Hist, of New York, vol. x, p. 618. 



310 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

sown the wind and was reaping the whirlwind.^ Among the 
niimher who rtm the ganntlet, and finally escaped hy running 
barefooted a distance of seven miles to the Half-way brook was 
Colonel, afterward General Jacob Bayley of New Hampshire.^ 

" In the confusion consequent upon the attack an Indian 
chief seized Colonel Frye, plundered and stripped him of his 
clothes even to shirt, and then led him into the woods in a di- 
rection and manner which left no doubt as to the design of the 
ferocious chief. Arriving at a secluded spot, where the colonel 
expected to meet his fate, he determined to make one efibrt for 
his life, and roused by desperation, with no other arms than 
those nature gave him, he sprang upon the savage, over- 
powered and killed him on the spot, and fleeing rapidly into a 
thick wood, he eluded the search of the other Indians. 
After wandering in various directions for several days, subsist- 
ing wholly on whortleberries, he reached Fort Edward, and 
joined his suftering companions."^ 

" Captain John Burk, of Frye's regiment, was seized, and after 
a violent struggle, stripped of the whole of his clothes, and after- 
wards escaped into the woods. Straying in various directions, 
he was overtaken by darkness in the margin of a morass, and 
unable to direct his course, lay down in the thick grass and 
passed the night, covered only by the damp vapor of the swamp. 
The next day he renewed his march, and fortunately arrived 
safely at Fort Edward. 

"At the time Colonel Munroe consented to the delivery of the 
private baggage to the Indians, Lieutenant Selah Barnard, ano- 
ther of Frye's officers, having with him a small trunk containing 
his eflects, resolutely determined not to part with it, unless by 
force. The trunk soon attracted thQ attention of the savages, 
and two stout fellows approaching to seize it, the lieutenant 
threatened theni with instant death, and for some time held the 

'" M. de Montcalm, who, on account of tlie distance of his tent, did not learn till a 
late hour what was goinfj on, at the very first news of this occurrence repaired to 
the spot with a speed which marked the {i;oodness and generosity of his heart. 
He multiplied himself, he seemed endowed with ubiquity, he was everywhere ; 
prayer, menaces, promises were used, he tried everything, and at last resorted to 
force." — Relation of Father Roubaud. Kijy's Jesuit Missions, p. 181. 

'^Memoir of Stark and Others, p. 828. Ebenezer Dow of Concord, N. H. 
" was a ranger in the time of the French and Indian war," and " was in the fight 
at Ticonderoga, Crown Point and Fort William Henry." " He said that at the 
massacre at Fort William Henry he heard the groans of the dying — praying and 
cursing — and the yells of savages, all mixed together." — Boutoa's Concords, p. 643. 

" Iloyt's Antiquarian Researches, p. 191. 



INDIAN MASSACRE. 3X1 

trunk from their grasp. Others coming up, he was seized by 
each arm, plundered, and led off to be butchered. Being re- 
markably athletic, with his whole strength he sent them in 
different directions, and by a rapid flight rejoined his fellow 
sufferers. The savages took possession of the trunk and sub- 
mitted to his escape, and he reached Fort Edward without fur- 
ther misfortune." 

Speaking of this massacre,^ one of the French officers states 
as follows : " The English troops surrendered upon condition 
of not again serving within eighteen months, against his Chris- 
tian Majesty and his allies, and of being sent to New Eno-land. 
The French were to escort them half-way across the portage of 
Fort St. George, and they accordingly started with their arms 
and baggage, marching in a column with the detachment of 
escort. The Indians, whom curiosity had drawn around them 
although strictly forbidden by M. de Montcalm not to molest 
them, still foljowed, scattering through the woods of the gorge. 
As soon as the escort left the English, some of the Indians tried 
to provoke them, rather to try their endurance than with any 
other design, and seized a part of their equipage. Seeino- that 
the troops were embarrassed at what was done, and confused by 
their shouts, they began to strip them, perhaps incited to this 
by their French interpreters, who could not bear to see the 
English depart without their getting any such spoils, as they 
gained in Braddock's aftair, and therefore encouraged the In- 
dians to seize their equipage. They soon attacked them from 
every side, falling upon their equipage and stripping them. 
Those who resisted were killed, and the rest were taken pri- 
soners, to the number of twelve or fifteen hundred." ^ 

Five days after the capitulation, Montcalm despatched Lieut. 
Savourin of the La-Sarre regiment, together with the Sieurs de 
St. Luc de la Corue and Marin with thirty grenadiers and two 

' Dr. James Cromwell of Lake George informs me, that while digg-ing cellars 
for his house (18G0) and vault for ice-house (1867), he exhumed thirteen skulls in 
a greater or less state of preservation. Other bones were found, but more decayed. 
These are believed to be the remains of a few of those massacred at this time. 

" Poudwfs MemoiiSyXol. i, p. 89. Hough's translation. In another paragraph 
he adds as follows : " The Indians, as they set out to return to their own country, 
carried with them a disease with which many died. Some of them seeing new 
graves, disinterred the dead to take their scalps, but unfortunately fonnd that 
they had died of the small pox, and the infection was thus given to the Indians. 
The Pouteotamis nation, one of the bravest and most strongly attached to the 
French, almost perished of this epidemic. We especially regretted some of the 
chiefs whom the French highly esteemed. 



312 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

interpreters as an escort to Lieut. William Hamilton of the 35th 
foot, and bearing letters to Lord Loudoun and General "Webb. 
On the following day, Captain de Poulliaries of the Royal Rou- 
sillon regiment with an escort of two hundred and fifty soldiers 
accompanied the survivers of the massacre, with the " one piece 
of cannon, a six pounder " granted by the ninth article of capitu- 
lation, as a token of the Marquis de Montcalm's esteem for 
Lieutenant Colonel Monro and his garrison, on account of their 
honorable defense, to the post at the Half-way brook, where 
they met a like detachment from the garrison at Fort Edward, 
sent by General "Webb to receive them. According to the offi- 
cial statement of Gov. Vaudreuil upwards of four hundred pri- 
soners were forwarded, by this escort, which were procured 
from the Indians by threats, promises and rewards.^ 

An official detail of the events of the campaign of 1757, from 
the department of war at Paris states that a party of Englishmen 
were plundered on leaving the intrenchment; «four hundred 
were taken on the road and brought to the camp, the greater 
portion of the English officers happened to be among these.^ 

The evacuation and demolition of the fort was completed on 
the fifteenth of August, and the following day, Montcalm re- 
embarked with his forces for Carillon. 

Fort Edward was now the frontier post on the northern border. 
The French held undisputed possession of the lakes and port- 
ages; and their savage allies swept the forest trails and border 
hamlets, resistless and merciless; capturing prisoners at the 
very gate of the palisades and block-houses; carrying dismay 
to the scattering settlements along the New England boundary,^ 



' " These officers having learned that the {rroater portion had gone to lie in am- 
bush on the Lidius road, where the English soldiers must necessarily pass, advised 
Colonel Munroe not to set out before the break of day, so as to be better able to 
control the Indians ; but they were no longer masters of them on the morrow." — 
Documents relating to the Colonial Hist, of N. Y., vol. x, p, G29. 

^ lUd. 

' The capture of the posts at Lake George, and the strength of Montcalm's army, 
threw the northern provinces into consternation, and the loss of Fort Edward was 
exi)ected to follow ; and that Montcalm would penetrate to Albany, if not to other 
points in the interior. On the first landing of the French army at Fort William 
Henry, General Webb called on the governments of New York and Massachusetts, 
for reinforcements of militia, and those of New York were soon in motion. Ruggles's 
and Chandler's regiments, in the county of Worcester, and \Yilliam9's andWorth- 
ington's in the county of Hampshire in Massachusetts, commenced their march for 
Fort Edward ; but previous to their arrival, Montcalm had returned down Lake 
George, to his stronj? post at Ticonderoga. In the mean time Gov. Pownell of 



CRUELTY AND CARNAGE. 



313 



and making the military highway through the town of Queens- 
bury a continuous scene of carnage, in which the fearful stories 
of Indian cruelty, the legends of the Blind rock, and nume- 
rous tales of hair breadth escapes, mingle in a confused horror, 
a night-raare of history, whose facts are not wholly susceptible 
of proof, whose traditions can not be denied as improbable. 

Massacliusetts ordered all the cavalry and a fourth part of the remaining militia 
of the province, excepting from York, Uukes county and Nantucket to march to 
Springfield on Connecticut river, under Sir William Pepperell as lieut. general of 
the province. Orders were also given for establishing a magazine at that place, 
and should the enemy advance upon the frontiers in force, Pepperell was to order 
" the wheels to be struck from all wagons west of Connecticut river, to drive off the 
horses, and to bring off all provisions which could be moved, and to destroy the 
remainder." — Hoyt's Antiquarian Besearches, p. 293. 




View op English Church and Fort Frederick, 
State Street, Albany, in 1745. 



40 



314 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 




CHAPTER IV. 

Webb Superseded — A New Campaign Projected — Activity op 
THE Enemy — Engagement at Rogers's Rock — Preparations for 
THE New Campaign — Abercrombie's Defeat — Engagements and 
Massacres at Half-way Brook — At Fort Anne — Capture of 
Major Putnam — Affair at Cold Brook — Abercrombie breaks 
Camp at Lake Gteorge — End of CaiMpaign. 

[OON" after the capitulation and surrender of Fort 
William Henry, the infamous and contemptible 
Webb was relieved and superseded by Lord Lou- 
doun in the command of the British forces in North 
America. By his presence, a new spirit and energy was tem- 
porarily infused into the management of the colonial military 
aftairs. Oue of the earliest steps taken, was the reorganization 
of the already famous corps of rangers under the command of 
the noted partisan Robert Rogers.(a) It was augmented to the 

(a) Major Robert Rogers, a famous partisan of the French war, b. Dun- 
barton, N. H., ab. 1730 ; d. Eng. ab. 1780. The'son of an early Irish settler of D. 
He com. durincf the French war (1755-63) Rofjers's Hangers, — a corps renowned 
for their exploits. March 13, 1758, with 170 men, he fought 100 Fretich, and 600 
Indians : after losing 100, and killing 150, he retreated. In 1759 he was sent by 
Amherst from Crown Point to destroy the Indian village of St. Francis ; which 
service he performed : 200 Indians were killed. In 1760, he was ordered by Am- 
herst to take possession of Detroit and other Western posts ceded by the French, 
which he accomplished. He next visited England, where he suffered from want, 
ilntil he borrowed the means to ])rint his journal, and present it to the king, who 
in 1765, a])p. him gov. of Michilimacinac. Accused of plotting to plunder the 
fort, and join the French, he was sent in irons to Montreal, and tried by a court 
martial. In 1769 he went to Eng., was presented to the king, but soon afterward 
was imprisoned for debt. He afterward, according to his account to Dr. Wheelock 
at Dartmouth, " fought 2 battles in Algiers under the dey." At the opening of the 
Revol., his course was such, that he was closely watched ; and in 1775, congress, 
whose prisoner he then was, released him on parole. Suspected by Washington 
of being a spy, he was secured in June, 1776, but, on being released by congress 
Boon after, openly joined the royal side, and, notwithstanding his parole of honor, 
accepted the commission of colonel, and raised the Queen's Rangers, a corps cele- 
brated throughout the contest. Oct. 21, 1776, he narrowly escaped being taken 
prisoncrr at Maniaroneck by a party sent out by Lord Stirling, and soon after went 
to Eng. He pnb. a concise account of N. A., Lond., 1765 ; Journals of the French 
War, 1765, repub. at Concord, 12mo, 1831, and entitled Reminiscences of the French 
War, with the Life of Stark ; and in 1766 the tragedy of PonteacJi. His 
Journal of the Siege of Detroit, &c., edited by F. B. Hough {MunseU's Hist. Series), 
1860. — Drake's Dictionary of American Biography. 



APPEAL TO THE COLONIES. 315 

proportions of a battalion by additions and volunteers from the 
regular service, who were instructed in a new code of tactics, 
expressly prepared by their leader for this new service. The 
main body of the army having been removed to Albany, this 
corps for a time constituted the only protection on the frontier, 
against the frequent incursions of predatory and marauding 
bands of savages, and their equally barbarous allies. In its fre- 
quent scouts and forays, the entrepot at the Half-way brook, 
was oftener than any other place the scene of its encampment 
or bivouac. 

The total failure of the last campaign in America — the re- 
peated and overwhelming disasters to the British arms, was 
the occasion not only of dissatisfaction in the colonies, but of 
sharp criticism and acrid debate in the national councils. 
Lord Loudoun was recalled, and, as a timely concession to the 
colonial troops, Pitt, the prime minister, " obtained the king's 
order, that every provincial ofl&cer of no higher rank than colo- 
nel should have equal command with the British, according to 
the date of their respective commissions."^ 

" The same express that bore the tidings of Lord Loudoun's 
recall convej-ed a circular letter from Mr. Pitt to the colonial go- 
vernors, declaring the determination of the British cabinet to 
repair, at any cost, the losses and disasters of the last campaign. 
To encourage the vigorous cooperation of the colonists, they 
were informed that his majesty would recommend parliament 
to grant the several provinces such compensation for the ex- 
penses which they might incur as their efforts should appear to 
justly merit, and that arms, ammunition, tents, provisions and 
boats would be furnished by the crown." ^ 

The appeal to the colonies for troops was promptly and gene- 
rously responded to with an effective force of over twenty thou- 
sand men, many of whom were trained in the rough school of 
border warfare, familiar with the arts and subtleties of savage 
strife, accustomed to the many exigencies of forest life, and 
taught from childhood in the mysteries and resources of wood- 
craft. 

As in previous years, the objective points of the campaign 
were Louisburg, Fort du Quesne, and the valley of the Ohio ;' 

' Bancroft's Hist. U. S., vol. iv, p. 291. 
" Warburton's Conquest of Canada, vol. ii, p. 84. 

'Oyo, or the beautiful river. — Kip's Jesuit Missions. Called by theFrencli La 
belle riviere, meaning the same. 



316 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

and the French posts on Lake Champlain, which, in the j&gura- 
tive dialect of the Iroquois, was aptly designated as the door or 
gate of the country. The charge of the last named expedition, 
as being of chief importance, was assumed by the commander 
in chief in person, General Sir James Abercrombie, a veteran 
from the battle fields of Europe ; a favorite of Lord Bute a lead- 
ing member of the ministry. 

Associated with him, though occupying a subordinate posi- 
tion, was the young, spirited, and popular Lord Howe, whom 
all contemporaneous accounts concur in styling the flower of 
the English army, the knight " without fear, and without re- 
proach." 

While these preparations were in progress, the enemy at 
Carillon were alert and active, continually sending out scouting 
and foraging parties, which often pushed their daring and 
venturesome attacks to the very gates of the fortifications at Fort 
Edward. In the month of August, 1758, a party of fifty ran- 
gers were attacked between the last named post, and the Half- 
way brook, by a detachment of Canadians and Indians under 
the command of M. de Langy a French colonial ofiicer. Twenty- 
three of the English were killed, and five taken prisoners. 
The scalps and prisoners were conveyed to the French camp at 
Carillon. 

During the latter part of the month of February following, 
a convoy of thirty sleighs loaded with provisions, was attacked 
by a party of Indians while on its way from Fort Edward to 
the camp at the head of the lake. The sleighs were plundered 
and dispersed and four of the teamsters were scalped. 

On the twenty-eighth of the same month, Capt. Putnam (a) in 
command of a company of Connecticut provincials and a de- 
tachment of rangers were despatched on a reconnoisance to 

(a) Israel Putnam was born in Salem, Massachusetts, January 7th, 1718. In 
1739, he removed to Pomfret, Conn. In 1755, he was appointed lieutenant of the 
6th Company of the 3d Connecticut regiment, and was afterwards promoted to be 
captain. He rendered much service to the army in the neighborhood of Crown 
Point, as may be seen by the reports of his scouting parties in New York Doc. 
Hist., IV. In 1756, while near Ticonderoga, he was repeatedly in the most im- 
minent danger. He escaped in an adventure one night with twelve bullet holes 
in his blanket. In 1757, the legislature of Connecticut conferred the commission ' 
of major on Putnam, who served that year under Gen. Webb, at Fort Edward, and 
was attached to the army under Abercrombie, in 1758. In August of that year 
he was sent out with several hundred men to watch tlie motions of the enemy. 
Being ambuscaded by a party of equal numbers, a general but irregular action 



ISRAEL PUTNAM. 317 

Ticonderoga. On his return he reported that six hundred 
Indians were encamped not far from the French intrenchments. 
On the tenth of March, by the order of Colonel naviland,(a) 
then in command at Fort Edward, Capt. Rogers, accompanied 
by thirteen officers part of whom were volunteers from the 

took place. He liad discharged his fusee several times, but at length it missed 
fire while its muzzle was presented to the breast of a savage, who, with his lifted 
hatchet, and a tremendous war whoop compelled him to surrender, and then bound 
him to a tree. At night he was stript, and a fire kindled to roast him alive, but 
a French officer saved him. The next day he arrived at Ticonderoga, and thence 
he was carried a prisoner to Montreal. He was soon after exchanged through the 
ingenuity of his fellow prisoner, Colonel Schuyler, and joined the army under 
Amherst, as lieutenant colonel in the 4th Connecticut regiment. In 1760, he 
accompanied the army from Oswego to Montreal. In 1763 commanded his regi- 
ment in the attack on Havana. In 1763, he rose to the rank of colonel, and 
accompanied an expedition against the western Indians, after which he returned 
to his farm. In 1770, he went to the Mississippi river to select some lands, but 
returned soon after, and was ploughing in his field in 1775, when he heard the 
news of the battle of Lexington. He immediately unyoked his team, left his plow 
on the spot, and without changing his clothes set off for Cambridge. In the 
battle of Bunker's hill he exhibited his usual intrepidity. When the army was 
organized by Gen. Washington at Cambridge, Putnam, who had been elected 
major general in June, 1775, was appointed to command the reserve. In August, 
1776, he was stationed at Brooklyn, on Long Island. After the defeat of our army 
he went to New York, and was very serviceable in the city and neighborhood. 
In October, or November, he was sent to Philadelphia, to fortify that city ; in 
January, 1777, was directed to take post at Princeton, where he continued until 
the following spring, when he was appointed to the command of a separate army 
in the Highlands of New York. After the loss of Fort Montgomery, the com- 
mander-in-chief determined to build another fortification, and he directed Putnam 
to fix upon the site. To him belongs the praise of having chosen West Point. 
The campaign of 1779, which was principally spent in strengthening the works 
at this place, finished the military career of Putnam. A paralytic affection im- 
paired the activity of his body, and he passed the remainder of his days in retire- 
ment, retaining his relish for enjoyment, his strength of memory, and all the 
faculties of his mind. He died at Brooklyn, Conn., May 29, 1790, aged 72." — Wil- 
son's Orderly Book, {MunselVs Historical Series), pp. 56-7, note. 

(a) William Haviland was appointed lieutenant colonel of the 27th, or Innis- 
killing foot, on the 16th Dec, 1752, which regiment sailed from New York with 
the expedition under Lord Loudoun, June 20th, and arrived at Halifax, first July, 
1757, whence it was afterwards sent to the river St. John, but was countermanded 
on the way, and ordered to New York, in consequence of the siege of Fort William 
Henry, on Lake George. In 1758, it formed part of the army sent under General 
Abercrombie, against Ticonderoga, and in 1759, accompanied General Amherst up 
Lakes George and Champlain, in which expedition Colonel Haviland commanded 
the van, or fi'ont column of the arnly, composed of the rangers, light infantry and 
grenadiers. 

On the evacuation of Ticonderoga, by the French, he was dispatched at the head 
of these troops in pursuit of the retreating enemy. On the army being divided, in 
1760, Col. Haviland, now brigadier general, was placed in command of the division 
designed to proceed against Montreal, by way of the lakes. This force amounted 



318 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

regular army, with one hundred and sixty-two privates, detailed 
from the corps of rangers, proceeded in the direction of Ticon- 
deroga on another reconnoitering expedition.^ Through the 
medium of deserters and prisoners the enemy became seasonably 
advised of this enterprise, and being informed that the party 
was to consist of four hundred men, took measures to ambush 
and cut oif its retreat. The first night's encampment was at the 
Half-way brook. The next was on the east side of Lake George 
near the JS^arrows. During their progress down the lake their 
movements were narrowly watched by the enemy who des- 
patched a force of seven hundred men up the west side of the 
lake to intercept and cut off'their retreat. " On the morning of the 
thirteenth," according to Rogers's journal, " a council of oflicers 
determined that the best course was to proceed by land upon 
snow shoes, lest the enemy should discover the party on the 
lake. Accordingly the march was continued on the west shore, 
along the back of the mountains, which overlooked the French 
advanced guard, and the party halted two miles west of them 
when they refreshed themselves until three o'clock." A mile 
and a half further on, the advanced guard of about one hundred 
Indians was encountered and driven back upon the main body 
under the command of the Sieur de la Durantaye, when the 
rangers being completely outflanked and greatly outnumbered 
were routed and defeated with great slaughter, the French 
account^ claiming that they brought back one hundred and 
forty-six scalps, and retained only three prisoners to furnish 



to 3400 men, and consisted of a part of the first royals, tlie 17th and 27th regiments, 
the Massachusetts regiments under Colonels Whitcomb and Willard, Colonel 
Goff's New Hampshire regiment, that of Rhode Island under Harris, five com- 
panies of rangers under Rogers, and a detachment of artillery under Colonel Ord. 

He set out from Albany in the month of June, and sailed from Crown Point on 
the 11th of August, and after successively reducing Isle Aux Noix, St. Johns, Fort 
Therese, and Chambly, crossed over to Longueil, and entered Montreal with Am- 
herst, in September. On the 9th December, following, he was appointed colonel 
commandant of the 4th Battalion of the 60th Royal Americans. In February, 
1763, he was senior brigadier general at the reduction of the island of Martinico ; 
he was appointed major general, 10th July, and commanded the 4th brigade at 
the siege of Havana, in August following. In 1767, he became colonel of the 45th ; 
lieutenant general the 25th of May, 1772 ; general in the army 19th February, 
1783, and died in September, 1788. — Army Lists ; Knox's Journal &nA Beaton's 
Mil. and Naval Memoirs ; Wilsons Orderly Book, pp. 1 and 2, note. 

' " The course which our troops took during the last war, was generally to land 
on Sabbath day point, whence a road leads to Ticouderoga." — Oov. Poicnall's Topo- 
grajMcal Descrij)tion. 

^Documents relating to the Colonial Hist, of N. Y., vol. x, p. 693. 



CAPT. JOHN STARK. 319 

live letters to their father. The same account adds in a vein of 
grim humor, " our Indians would not give any quarter." The 
French loss was reported at twenty-seven killed and woUuded . 
Rogers's force, dispersed and scattered through the woods, sought 
safety in flight or temporary concealment, the snow being very 
deep rendered pursuit both difficult and dangerous. As snow 
shoes constituted a part of the rangers' outfit, they became an 
important agency in the escape of those who survived the con- 
flict. It was the memorable events connected with this affiiir 
that has made Rogers's rock an object ot interest to tourists and 
a landmark of history. The fugitives were met near the 
ITarrows on their retreat by Capt. John Stark {a) with a timely 
reinforcement, and a supply of blankets, sleighs and provisions. 
They reached Fort Edward on the night of the fifteenth. 

Pursuant to orders awaiting him, Rogers repaired to New 
York, to confer with General Abercrombie, by whom he was 
received with distinguished consideration, and who, at this time 
conferred upon him the rank and commission of major. He 
was instructed to report to Lord Howe, who was then at Albany 
engaged in organizing the army and making other preparations 
for the campaign. After concerting and maturing their plans, 
Rogers hurried north and resumed command of his justly cele- 
brated corps. 

Colonel Grant was now in command at Fort Edward. The 
rangers were immediately divided into several detachments, and 



' The same extraordinary discrepancies attend the reports of this affair that char- 
acterize the returns connected with all the forest frays and general engagements 
of this war. The English account makes the French loss over fifty at the first 
fire, while the number of Canadians and Indians engaged is stated at seven hun- 
dred. The official returns of the English loss, including killed, wounded and 
missing was ninety-five. 

(«) John Stark was born at Londonderry, N. H., 28th August, 1728, and in 
1752 was a captive among the Indians of St. Francis. He served as captain of 
rangers in the French war, and at the opening of the Revolution received a commis- 
Bion as colonel, and fought at Bunker hill in June, 1775 ; went in 1776 to Canada, 
and at Trenton commanded the van of the right wing of the American army. 
He was also in the battle of Princeton, but being omitted in the promotions, threw 
up his commission March, 1777. He raised a body of troops in New Hampshire, 
and in August following, defeated Col. Baum at Wallumschack. After this he 
was reinstated in the Continental army as brigadier general. He served in 
Rhode Island in 1778-9, and in 1780 in New Jersey ; in 1781, had the command 
of the northern department, and was one of the members of the court martial on 
Major Andre. He died, full of years and honors. May 8th, 1822, aged 93 years, 
and was buried on a small hill on the banks of the Merrimack river. — Wilnoii's 
Orderly Book {MunseU's Historical /Series), p. 23, Jiote. 



320 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

despatched by various routes to the north in quest of informa- 
tion. Captain Stark was sent down the west side of the lake 
to reconnoitre the enemy's position at Ticonderoga. The cele- 
brated chief Nawnawapatconks, or Captain Jacobs, with a 
large party of Mohegan Indians, proceeded down the east side 
of the lake on a similar errand. Captain Burbank with 
another party was despatched to harass the enemy and if possi- 
ble to take some prisoners; while Major Rogers, with a party 
of eighteen, proceeded to Crown Point, where one Frenchman 
was killed, and three others made prisoners. With the latter, 
he reached camp on the ninth of May. From that time to the 
tenth of June, Rogers's journal gives evidence of almost con- 
stant, and frequently perilous scouting service. 

At this time all the detachments were ordered in, and placed 
under the direction of Lord Howe, who had reached Fort 
Edward on the eighth with one half the army. On the twelfth, 
Rogers'with fifty men, started on another scout in the direction 
of the French posts. The next day the party was ambushed 
by a superior force of the enemy, in which three of the French, 
and eight of the Provincials were killed. On their return, they 
encountered, on the twentieth. Lord Howe, who was encamped 
at the Half-way brook with two thousand men.^ Having re- 
ported the result of his encounter, he obtained permission to 
wait on Gen. Abercrombie at Fort Edward, from whom he 
received instructions to rejoin his lordship with the entire 
corps of rangers, numbering about six hundred. 

On the twenty-second, this advanced force encamped on the 
ruins of Fort William Henry, the rangers taking position on 
the west side, near the base of Rattle Snake mountain. Several 
scouting parties were daily detached to keep a sharp lookout 

' It is conjectured that this force was encamped on what is known to the pre- 
sent day as the garrison ground situated on the south bank of the Half-way 
brook about midway between the Champlain tannery, and the brickyard. The 
old military road at this point ran eastwardly of the plank road, crossing it at an 
acute angle, and crossing the brook about four rods above the present bridge. 
A part of the old abutments and causeway are still to be seen. The block house 
Btood west of the brick dwelling house lately owned and occupied by Ezra Bene- 
dict. A branch road leading to the garrison ground crossed the brook a short 
distance below the plank road bridge. It is highly probable that at this time 
log buildings were erected at the lower camping ground, which were subse- 
quently occupied by the forces under Amherst, and later on by large bodies during 
the Revolutionary war. The road across the flat further north, was quite tor- 
tuous in its course, crossing the track of the plank road some five or six times, 
and then turning off to the right in the direction of the Blind rock. 



ADVANCES AND RETREATS. 321 

on the enemy's movements. One of them, consisting of seven- 
teen men and two lieutenants, was captured while proceeding 
down the lake in whale boats, by a force of two hundred Cana- 
dians, who intercepted and cut off their retreat. The details 
of that imposing gathering, its splendid and brilliant array, the 
triumphal advance down Lake George, the disastrous skirmish 
of the morning, in which Lord Howe, the idol and hope of the 
English array ^ was killed, the assault and defeat at the intrench- 
ments of Carillon, the precipitate and inglorious retreat of 
Abercromhie to the head of Lake George, do not come withia 
the scope of this work. Immediately following tljese events, 
Montcalm placed in the field several flying detachments of 
Canadians and Indians, whose special duty it became to harass 
the small outposts between Lake George and Fort Edward ; cut 
off the supplies, baggage and munitions of the English army, 
and waylay several parties in their transit between the princi- 
pal posts. 

Abercrombie's defeat took place on the eighth of July, 1758.^ 
On Friday the twentieth of July, succeeding this event, a de- 
tachment of four hundred men, consisting of Canadians and 
Indians, under the command of M. St. de Luc la Corne, a colonial 
officer, attacked an English force of one hundred and fifty men, 

' Above the pedantry of holdino^ up standards of military ritles, where it was im- 
possible to practice them, and the narrow spirit of preferrinty the modes of his own 
country, to those proved by experience to suit that in which he was to act, Lord 
Howe laid aside all pride and prejudice, and gratefully accepted counsel from those 
whom he knew to be best qualified to direct him. Madame was delighted with 
the calm steadiness with which he carried through the austere rules which he 
found necessary to lay down. In the first place he forbade all displays of gold 
and scarlet, in the rugged march they were about to vindertake, and set the ex- 
ample by wearing himself an ammunition coat, that is to say, one of the surplus 
soldier's coats cut short. This was a necessary precaution ; because in the woods 
the hostile Indians, who started from behind the trees, usually caught at the long 
and heavy skirts then worn by the soldiers ; and for the same reason he ordered 
the muskets to be shortened, that they might not, as on former occasions, be 
snatched from behind by these agile foes. To prevent the march of his regiment 
from being descried at a distance by the glittering of their arms, the barrels of 
the guns were all blackened ; and to save them from the tearing of bushes, the 
stings of insects, etc., he set them the example of wearing leggins, a kind of buskin 
made of strong woolen cloth." — Memoirs of an American Lady, p. 176. 

' Col. Gumming, who had been left in charge of a detachment at the head of Lake 
George at the time of Abercrombie's advance, received a letter from James Cun- 
ningham aid-de-camp, dated French advanced guard, July 8, 1758, in which was 
the following order : "finish all your stockaded forts immediately, and particu- 
larly the hospital." — Lossing's Life and Times of Philip ScMyler, vol. i, p. 154. 
41 



322 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

consisting of teamsters and an escort of soldiers, while on their 
way from the station at the Half-way brook, to the camp at the 
head of the lake. The account here given is as nearly as can 
be remembered in the language of a Mr. Jones of Connecticut, 
who was a member of Putnam's company which arrived on the 
ground soon after the aftray took place. In the year 1822 he 
related the circumstances as here recorded, to the late Herman 
Peck, Esq., of this place, while on a visit to Connecticut. It is 
from Mr. Peck that I obtained the narrative, which corres- 
ponds so completely with the French version of the affair that 
there can be no question whatever as to its general accuracy 
and reliability. 

A baggage train of sixty carts, each cart drawn by two to 
three yoke of oxen, accompanied by an unusually large escort 
of troops, was despatched from Fort Edward to the head of 
Lake George with supplies for the troops of General Abercrom- 
bie, who lay encamped at that point with a force of twelve 
thousand men. This party halted for the night at the stockade 
post at the Halfway brook. As they resumed their march in 
the morning, and before the escort had fairly cleared the pick- 
eted enclosure, they \t'ere suddenly attacked by a large party of 
French and Indians which laid concealed in the thick bushes 
and reeds that bordered the stream, and lined the road on both 
sides, along the low lands between the block house and the 
Blind rock. 

The night previously to this ambuscade and slaughter, Put- 
nam's company of rangers having been to the lake to procure 
supplies, encamped at the flats near the southern spur of the 
French mountain. In the early morning they were aroused 
from their slumbers by the sound of heavy tiring in a southerly 
direction, and rolling up their blankets they sprang to their 
arms and hastened rapidly forward to the scene of action, a dis- 
tance of about four miles. They arrived only in time to find 
the slaugiitered carcasses of some two hundred and fifty oxen, 
the mangled remains of the soldiers, women and teamsters, and 
the broken fragments of the two wheeled carts, which constitu- 
ted in that primitive age the sole mode of inland transportation. 

The provisions and stores had been plundered and destroyed. 
Am>ong the supplies were a large number of boxes of chocolate 
which had been broken open and their contents strewed upon 
the ground, which dissolving hi the fervid heat of the summer 



324 HISTORY OP THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

sun, miugled with the pools and rivulets of blood forming a 
sickening and revolting spectacle. The convoy had been am- 
bushed and attacked immediately after leaving the protection 
of the stockade post, and the massacre took place upon the flats, 
between the Half-way brook, and the Blind rock, or what is 
more commonly known at the present day as the Miller place. 

Putnam with his command, took the trail of the marauders, 
which soon became strewed with fragments of plunder dropped 
by the rapidly retreating savages. 

They were followed to Ganaouski bay, on the west side of 
Lake George, where Putnam arrived only in time to find them 
embarked in their canoes, at a safe distance from musket shot, 
on the waters of the lake; and their discovery was responded 
to by insulting and obscene gestures, and yells of derision and 
defiance. The provincials returned immediately to the scene of 
the butchery, where they found a company from Fort Edward 
engaged in preparing a trench for the interment of the dead. 

Over one hundred of the soldiers composing the escort were 
slain, many of whom were recognized as ofilcers, from their 
uniform, consisting in part of red velvet breeches. The corpses 
of twelve females were mingled with the dead bodies of the 
soldiery. All the teamsters were supposed to have been killed. 
While the work of burial was going forward the rangers occu- 
pied themselves in searching the trails leading through the 
dense underbrush and tangled briars which covered the swampy 
plains. Several dead bodies were by these means added to the 
already lar^e number of the slain. On the side of one of these 
trails, the narrator of these events saw a new unhemmed ban- 
danna handcherchief fluttering from the twigs of an old tree 
that laid among the weeds near the brook. This he found 
perforated with a charge of buck shot, part of which remained 
enveloped in its folds. 

Following up the trail, he soon found the corpse of a woman 
which had been exposed to the most barbarous indignities and 
mutilations, and fastened in an upright position to a sapling 
which had been bent over for the purpose. All of the bodies 
had been scalped, and most of them mangled in a horrible 
manner. 

One of the oxen had no other injury, than to have one of its 
horns cut out ; it was still alive and bellowing with agony. This 
they were obliged to kill. 



AN AMBUSH. 325 

Another ox had been regularly scalped. This animal was 
afterwards driven to the lake, where it immediately became an 
object of sympathy and attention of the whole army. By care- 
ful attendance and nursing, the wound healed in the course of 
the season. In the fall the animal was driven down to the farm 
of Col. Schuyler, near Albany, and the following year was 
shipped to England for exhibition as a curiosity. Far and 
wide it was kuown as the scalped ox. The bodies of the dead 
were buried in a trench near the scene of massacre, a few rods 
east of the picketed enclosure. The French version of the 
affair,^ states the oxen were killed, the carts burnt, the property 
pillaged by the Indians, one hundred and ten scalps were se- 
cured, and eighty-four prisoners taken ; of these twelve are 
women and girls. The escort which was defeated consisted of 
forty men commanded by a lieutenant who has been taken. 
The remainder of the men who were killed or taken prisoners 
consisted of wagoners, sutlers, traders, women and children. 
The English 'tis known feel this loss very sensibly. Some bag- 
gage and eftects belonging to General Abercrombie, as well as 
his music, were among the plunder. On the news of this defeat, 
the English general sent a very considerable force in pursuit, 
under the command of the partisan Robert Rogers, but he was 
too late. He was on the point of returning, when, on the ad- 
vice of a colonial gunner, a deserter, he received orders to lay 
in ambush to surprise a third detachment which the Marquis 
de Montcalm had just despatched ^ under the orders of M. Marin, 
a colonial officer of great reputation. This detachment was 
composed of fifty regulars, one hundred Canadians, and one 
hundred and fifty Indians. That of the enemy, of about seven 
hundred men. They met in the woods, about seven o'clock in 
the morning of the eighth of August, and in spite of superior 
numbers, M. Marin, made his arrangements to fight the enemy. 

He forced them to waver by two volleys, which killed a great 
many ; but having been supported by the regulars, they rallied, 
and the firing was brisk on both sides for nearly an hour. M. 
Marin, perceiving that they were receiving a reinforcement, and 

' M. Doreil to Marsliall de Belle Isle. Documents relating to the Colonial Hist. 
ofN. F., vol. X, p. 818. 

' Since tbe great day of the 8tb, Montcalm has always had some detachments 
in the fields to watch and harass the enemy. These detachments had likewise for 
object to place themselves between tbe enemy's intrenched camp on the ruins of 
Fort William Henry and Fort Edward to attack and destroy their convoys. — Ibid. 



326 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OP QUEENSBURY. 

the Indians, who feared that they would not be able to curry 
off" some wounded, demanding to retire, he was obliged to think 
of retreating, which he did in good order, and without being 
pursued, after having, for an hour longer, kept up a tire with 
such picked men as Ire had, who performed prodigies of valor. 
The Indians, in general, have also behaved well; but of one 
hundred Canadians, more than sixty deserted M. Marin, no one 
knows wherefore, at the very moment when the English were 
wavering." The English loss is reported in this account at up- 
wards of two hundred killed and two officers taken prisoners. 
The French loss is stated at ten killed and eleven wounded. 
The sceire of this engagement was near Fort Ann. It was here 
that Major Putnam was made prisoner.* Rogers's journal esti- 
mates the French loss at one hundred and ninety-nine. 

About this period a stockade fort with earthworks, trenches, 
and a palisaded enclosure was thrown up on what was then 
called Picket brook, a small rivulet which crosses the plank 
road about one-eighth of a mile south of the upper toll gate by 
Brown's half way house, and empties itself into a stream known 
in the earlier annals of the town as Hampshire creek or Rocky 
brook, but now called Trout brook. This fortification was 
erected on the south side of the rivulet, to which led a covered 
way even now to be distinctly traced. It was called Fort 
Williams,^ and was designed as a depot for provisions and 
munitions of war, and also as a halting place for the numerous 
parties of teamsters and soldiers, scouts and patrols continually 
passing to and fro on the old military highway between Lake 
George and Fort Edward. 

On the sixteenth of July, a detachment of Canadians and 
Indians, under the command of M. de Courtemanche, a colonial 
captain, was despatched from the fortress of Carillon, witli a 
view to harass the English camp, cut oft" its convoys and 
supplies of provisions and to take scalps and prisoners. They 
fell, unexpectedly as usual, upon Col. Nichol's regiment then 

' The extraordinary outrages and barbarities to which this galhmt and spirited 
officer was exposed on this occasion, are detailed at length in his biographies. He 
was carried to Montreal and detained a i>risoner until after the cajjture of Fort 
Frontenac, when, through the instrumentality of Col. Schuyler, he was exchanged. 
In Putnam's narrative, the leader of the expedition is mentioned as the famous 
partisan Molang. 

' Vide Pouchofs Memoirs, vol. ir, p. 52, for map of the frontiers of the French 
and English colonies, originally published in this work, in which Fort Williams 
is laid down a little to the south of Lake George. 



SCALPS AND PRISONERS. 327 

quartered at the post by the Half-way brook, and killed three 
captains and twenty men.' The French account states that they 
attacked a party of three hundred English, which had taken 
refuge in a stockaded enclosure lately erected as a depot. They 
succeeded in taking twent3'-fbur scalps and making ten pri- 
soners. The impatience of the Indians in making tha attack, 
prevented the massacre from being more complete. Rogers, 
who was at this time on a scout to South bay, discovered thia 
attacking party on its way up the east side, and estimated the 
number at one thousand men.^ 

Another of these picket forts, capable of accommodatingabout 
three hundred men, was built somewhere near the siteof Rich- 
ards's steam saw-mill, on the berme side of the Glen's Falls 
feeder, and east of the bridge on the road leading to Sandy 
Hill. Like the other picket forts, this was protected by a ditch 
and palisades, and was used as a halting place by wagoners 
and small parties of soldiers. Connected with this post was a 
burial ground, which has been in use so lately as since the re- 
volutionary war. The old military road, instead of following 
the present route across the flat, led eastwardly along the margin 
of the elevated ground, nearly parallel with the canal. 

During this season, already memorable by reason of so many 
bloody affrays, an attack* was made by a large party of Cana- 
dians and Indians, commanded by the infamous and worse than 
savage partisan, St. Luc, on a convoy of soldiers in charge of a 
valuable baggage train, which was on its way from Fort Edward 
to the intrenched camp at the head of Lake George, where Ab- 

' " A few (lays before, a detachment of five hundred men under the orders of M. 
de Courte-Mauche, had taken forty scalps, and brought to camp five prisoners."— 
Pouchot's Memoirs, vol. i, p. 123, Ilougli's 7'ranslntion. 

^ " From these, and other slaughters, this (i. e., the Half-way) brook is sometimes 
called the Bloody brook." — Mogers's Journal. 

" For the narrative as here recorded I am chiefly indebted to the late Samuel 
Ranger, Es(i., of this place, who was a grandson of the John Torrey mentioned in 
the text. 

" July 27. Another party of the enemy attacked a convoy of wagons between 
Fort Edward and Half-way brook, and killed one hundred and sixteen men, sis- 
teen of whom were rangers. Major Rogers attempted to intercept this party with 
seven hundred men, but they escaped." — Rogers's Journal. 
M. Daine to the Marshal de Belle Isle. 

" 17th August, 1758. A courier has just arrived this moment, my lord, from 
Carillon with intelligence that a detachment of 400 men consisting of Canadians, 
colonials, and Indians, commanded by M. de la Corne St. Luc, attacked on the 
Lydius road, the 30th of July last, at one o'clock in the afternoon, a convoy of 
about 150 men who were conducting 54 wagons loaded with provisions, which 



328 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

ercrombie remained with a force often thousand men as late as 
the month of October. Tradition states that the head of the 
train had reached the elevated ground near the present rail road 
crossing, while the rear had not yet crossed the Cold brook. 
Besides provisions, quartermaster's stores, and the usual muni- 
ments of war, it is stated traditionally, that this convoy had in 
charge, a large camp chest filled with silver dollars, which was 
being transported to the head of the lake, for the purpose of 
paying oft" the soldiers. The train was attacked with great im- 
petuosity near its centre, and such was the momentum and ra- 
pidity of the onset, that of the entire party only one made his 
escape, a teamster near the rear of the column, who at the first 
assault, crept oft* his load and concealed himself bj' clinging to 
the string-pieces of the bridge crossing the Cold brook. The 
remainder were either massacred ^ or taken prisoners. The 
cattle were slaughtered and mutilated. One of the soldiers 
forming the escort, which was composed chiefly of Massachu- 
setts troops, seeing an Indian cutting out the tongue of a live 
ox, drew up and shot him, but was speedily killed in turn for 
his temerity. Among the prisoners was a lad by the name of 
John Torrey, who had been employed as a wagoner. He was 
carried to Canada, where he remained something like eighteen 
months before his exchange was eftected. Corroborative of 
this narration, is the fact that in the early part of the century, 
and within the memory of a few now living, the entire hill-side 
between the Cold brook, and the canal crossing, has been dug 
over, and searched for the chest of specie, which, as the marau- 
ders had no means of transportation, it is stated and believed, 
was buried for safe keeping until a more favorable opportunity 
should present for its recovery. The expulsion of the French, 
and the conquest of the lake strongholds by Amherst, the fol- 
lowing year, prevented the accomplishment of this design, and 
the old military treasure chest probably still remains concealed 

they captiired and destroyed, not beinof able to save tliem ; they kilHed 230 oxen 
and took 80 scalps and 64 prisoners, men, women, and children. We lost only one 
Iroquois ; two others have been slightly wounded." — Colonial Hist, of N. Y., vol. 
' X, p. 817. 

In Gen. Montcalm's report the date of this affair is stated as Friday, the 20th 
of July. 

St. Luc's official report varies but slifrhtly from the above. Ibid., p. 850. 

' lu repairing the highway between Glen's Falls and Sandy Hill in 1871, parts 
of two human skeletons were exhumed a few rods east of the rail road crossing. 



J 



END OF THE CA^IPAIGK 329 

in its secret resting .place near the borders of the old military 
highway. 

These forays so oft repeated, with such disastrous effect upon 
the English arms, seems to have resulted in the permanent es- 
tablishment of a large force at the Half-w\ay brook,^ for on the 
twenty-ninth of August we find that eight hundred men are 
stationed there, and although the enemy still keep flying de- 
tachments in the field,^ no further record of wholesale massacres 
and butcheries appear in their reports. Toward the very last 
days of October, General Abercrombie broke camp and aban- 
doned his position at the head of the lake. The barracks, store 
houses and other buildings which had been erected for the con- 
venience of his still large army were burned, the intrenchments 
leveled and destroyed, the artillery, shells, and shot buried, and 
a sloop of war of twelve guns sunk in the lake.^ 

Thus ignominiously ended a campaign, begun with no com- 
mon energy, supported with unstinted supplies of men and 
material, prosecuted with great parade and vainglorious antici- 
pations, but failed for the want of good sense and adaptation to 
surroundings, which in the past as well as the present genera- 
tions, have led thousands of brave hearts to their doom through 
the high stepping, hard bitted adherence to military precedents, 
and schools of tactics, which great genius only could mould to 
success, and which to mediocrity are but leaden weights, drag- 
ing downward to failure and disgrace. 

' Auw. Ist, 1858. A deserter reports 700 men at the Half-way depot. On the 
29th 800 reported at the entrepot. — Journal of events. — Col. Hist, of N. Y., vol. x, 
pp. 820-855. 

" In a letter of M. Daine to Marshal de Belle Isle, dated Quebec, July 31, he says : 
' Tve have at present several detachments of Canadians anu Indians, roving in the 
neighborhood of Lydius and Fort George." — Col. Hist, of N. Y., vol. x, p. 816. 

" Letter of Montcalm to M. de Massiac. Ibid., p. 888. 



42 



350 HISTORY OP THE TOWN OP QUEENSBURY. 



CHAPTER V. 

France refuses Aid to her Colonists — Preparations for the en- 
suing Campaign — jMajor Rogers despatched on a Reconnois- 
sance to Fort St. Frederic — Posts erected at Half-way Brook, 
and the Head op Lake Champlain — Advance of Gen. Amherst's 
Army to Fort Edward and Lake George — Corvette Halifax 
raised — Investment and Capture tp Carillon and St. Frede- 
ric — Gratifying Termination of the Campaign. 

^^"j^^HE approach of winter found the military operations 
along the northern frontier praeticallj terminated ; 
the bulk of the army having been withdrawn into 
winter quarters ; suthcient garrisons having been left 
in charge of the few posts at the north ; as well as those at the 
west. 

The events of the preceding campaign had been in the main 
creditable to the English arras, and the success of the expedi- 
tions at the north, south and west received an additional lustre 
and eclat, in consequence of the overwhelming repulse of Aber- 
crombie at the fatal intrenchments of Carillon. The well 
guarded and massive fortress of Louisbourg had yielded to the 
indomitable valor and unwearied labor of Wolfe, Amherst and 
Boscawen ; the forest-battlements of Fort DuQuesne had been 
leveled by the conquering Forbes; and the palisades and ramparts 
of Fort Frontenac had quietly yielded to the bold genius of the 
gallant Bradstreet. England, while mourning the loss of her 
brave sons who fell before the trenches at Ticonderoga, was still 
exultant in her triple victory, and looked forward with undoubt- 
ing confidence to the tinal triumph of the British power over the 
Canadian provinces. The latter were now girt with four power- 
ful armies, and the crimson banner of England swung its broad 
folds from two of the most important posts which the French 
had possessed in the new world. The shattered regiments of 
Abcrcrombie still lined the banks of the Hudson ; Louisbourg 
and BuQuesne were garrisoned with stout English and provin- 
cial soldiery; Fort Frontenac was in ruins; Fort Stauwix was in 
possession of the great western trail; and the resources of the 
French were almost exhausted. In this perilous strait an agent 



I 



PREPARATIONS FOR ANOTHER CAMPAIGN. 331 

was despatched by the Canadian governnient of France for as- 
sistance. The irritated sovereign obliged to maintain a war at 
home refused any aid, and without abating one tittle of his claims 
to the Canadian possessions, left the impoverished habitans to 
defend, for another campaign, the land of their nativity from the 
aggressions of the foes of France. De Vaudreuil, the governor 
of Canada involved in a tissue of embarrassments and difficulties 
resulting from his own indolence and incapacity, had but little 
leisure to attend to the dangers which threatened the harassed 
province, and the control of its military operations again de- 
volved almost solely upon Montcalm, who, ever active and 
vigilant, continued to give employment to his scouting parties 
in the vicinity of the frontiers. 

The preparations for the approaching campaign progressed 
both in the mother country and colonies with all the vigor 
and activity which characterized the movements of the new 
ministry. Pitt, who had been chagrined at the result of the 
expedition against Ticonderoga, resolved for the future not to 
entrust the execution of his favorite schemes to any but officers 
of his own selection, who, by their tried valor, and competency 
to command should have proved worthy of his confidence. 
With this view, the chief command of the land forces in IS^orth 
America was committed for the coming campaign to General 
Jeffrey Amherst, (a) who by his judgment, and skill in the con- 
quest of Louisbourg, had exhibited talents worthy of this most 

(a) Jeffrey Amherst was descended from an ancient Kentish family, and 
born at Riverliead in England, 29th January, 1717. He early devoted himself to 
the profession of arms, receiving an ensign's commission when only fourteen years 
of age. At the age of twenty five he acted as aid-de-camp to Lord Ligonier, in the 
battles of Dettingen and Fontenoy, and afterwards served in the staff of the Duke 
of Cumberland in those of Laffeld and Hastenbeck. From that date his promotion 
was very rapid. In 1756, we find him in command of a regiment of foot ; and in 
1758 he received orders to return to England, being appointed to the American 
service, with the rank of major general. He sailed from Portsmouth on the 16th 
of March, having the command of the troops destined for the seige of Louisbourg ; 
on the 26th of July following he captured that place, and without further cj,ifficulty 
toLk entire possession of Cape Breton. After this event, he succeeded Abercrombie 
in the command of the army in North America. The capture of Fort Du Quesne, 
Niagara, Ticonderoga, and Crown Point in due time followed. General Amherst, 
nuw seeing that the whole continent of North America was reduced in subjection 
to Great Britain, returned to New York, and was received with all the respect due 
to his public services. The thanks of the house of commons had already been 
transmitted to him ; and among other honorable testimonies of approbation, in 
1761 he was created a Knight of the Bath. Although he had been appointed com- • 
mander-in-chief of all the forces in America, and governor general of the British 



332 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

important trust. The plan marked out by the comprehensive 
mind of tlie minister, for the military operations of the ensuing 
season was intended to embrace a combined eltbrt by sea and 
land for the reduction of the remaining garrisoned posts along 
the Canadian border. The difficulty, however, of fully executing 
this scheme, through the want of timely cooperation of the 
several forces employed prevented its accomplishment, although 
the campaign was brilliant, and its achievements reflected 
glory upon the English arms. An army of eight thousand men 
destined for the attack of Quebec was levied, which was en- 
trusted to the gallant and impetuous Wolfe. Generals Prideaux 
and Johnson were placed in command of the army at the west, 
with instructions to proceed to the conquest of the posts on the 
lakes, while General Amherst with an army of twelve thousand, 
was ordered to advance to the north for the attack of Forts 
Carillon and St. Frederic. After the several expeditions had 
accomplished the labors assigned them, they were directed to 
unite by their several routes for the reduction of Montreal. 
While making drafts for new levies to serve during the re- 
mainder of the war, the governors of the English provinces 
were instructed to fill the offices of the new regiments with men 
who, by their experience, bravery, and popularity should secure 
the entire confidence and affection of the soldiery. New ap- 
propriations on the part of the colonies were also demanded, 

provinces, he resigned liis command shortly after the conclusion of peace between 
Great Britain and France, and returned to London in December, 17G3, where new 
honors and favors awaited him. In 1770 he became governor of Guernsey and its de- 
pendencies, and two years afterwards was sworn of the privy council. In 1776 he was 
advanced to the dignity of the peerage, when he took the title of Baron Amherst 
of Honesdale in the county of Kent ; and in 1787 received another patent as Baron 
Amherst of Montreal. From 1772 to 1783 he officiated as commander-in-chief of 
the English forces, during the latter part of which period he acted as eldest 
general on the staff of England. In 1783 he received the golden stick from the 
king, but on tlie change of administration, usually called that of Lord North, the 
command of the army, and the Lieutenant Generalship of Ordnance, was put into 
other hands. In 1783 he was again appointed to the command of the army ; but 
in 1785 he was superseded by tlie Duke of York, then in his 31st year, who had never 
seen any service. The government upon this occasion, with a view to soothe the 
feelings of the old general, offered him an earldom, and the rank of field marshal, 
both of which he rejected ; but in the following year accepted the latter. He died 
3d August, 1797 in the 81st year of his age. Lord Amherst was a man of collected 
and temperate mind, vvitliout brilliancy or parade ; a strict officer, yet the soldier's 
friend. He was twice married, but left no issue, and was succeeded in his title 
and estates by his nephew, the son of the brother whom he had employed in the 
reduction of Ne\rfouadland." — Wilson's Orderly Book {MunseU's Hist. Series), 
pp. V, VI, VII. 



RECONNOISSANCE OF ST. FREDERICK. 333 

partly as a loan to the home government, to defray the expenses 
of this gigantic enterprise. Two thousand six hundred and 
eighty men were drawn from the province of New York alone, 
as its quota to the new levies; and hills of credit to the amount of 
one hundred thousand pounds were issued, being made redeema- 
ble in 1768; beside taxes totheamountofsix hundred and twenty- 
five thousand dollars, including one hundred and fifty thousand 
loaned to the parent state. An oath of secrecy was exacted 
from the members of the colonial assemblies when the plan of 
this campaign was communicated to them. As soon as the 
commission arrived, appointing him to the chief command of 
the American armj^, Amherst sailed fpm Halifax, and touching 
at Boston, landed at 'New York near the close of the year (De- 
cember 12th), and immediately applied himself to the duties of 
his responsible station. The following month, Abercrombie 
embarked on board a man-of-war lying at that port, and accom- 
panied by Wolfe, returned to England. The forces at Louis- 
bourg and vicinity were left meanwhile in the charge of Colonel 
Monckton. 

In addition to two new corps of rangers, which it was pro- 
posed to raise at this time, negotiations were entered into with 
three chiefs of the Mohegan tribe for three companies of Indiana 
to be used in the scouting service. 

About the last of February a company of fifty Mohawks under 
the command of Captain Lotridge, was sent to Rogers, through 
the instrumentality of Sir Wm. Johnson. These cooperated 
with the rangers in a scout to Ticouderoga, which will hereafter 
be related. 

The eastern colonies, which the preceding year had been so 
lavish of their means for the promotion of the war, were dis- 
appointed in the results of the campaign and exhibited an un- 
usual reluctance to increase the amount of the appropriations 
or levies. Under the earnest representations of Amherst, whose 
successes had rendered him deservedlj^ popular throughout jSTew 
England, Massachusetts was finally induced to contribute both 
men and money to the coming campaign, ISTew Hampshire, in- 
creased the number of her levies to one thousand, which was 
mainly designed to replenish Rogers's command. An addi- 
tional regiment of volunteers, called the Jersey Blues, was 
raised in the state of New Jersey, through the agency of Edward 
Hart ; and the sparsely settled region of the Mohawk valley 



334 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBUEY. 

turned out a battalion of eight hundred rangers who served 
under General Johnson on the western frontier. The northern 
states at the opening of spring were again alive with the stir 
of military preparations, and ever}' cit}-, village and hamlet in 
the neighborhood of the Hudson echoed once more the words 
of command and the din of arms. 

While these movements were in progress, Major Rogers was 
despatched by Colonel Haldimand, then in command at Fort 
Edward,^ to reconnoitre and report upon the strength and con- 
dition of the garrison and fortification at St. Frederic and 
Carillon. His force consisted of three hundred and fifty-eight 
men, including the party of Mohawks already named. On the 
evening of the 3d of March, he encamped at the deserted post 
near the Half-way brook. Here one of the Indians becoming 
disabled, was sent back. The ensuing day his party was marched 
to the vicinity of King Hendrick's spring and halted until even- 
ing to avoid exposure to any of the enemy's parties of observa- 
tion.^ The march was then resumed and the party reached 
the Narrows on Lake George, about two o'clock in the 
morning and bivouacked for the night. The cold was so in- 
tense that at this point several of the men were found to be 
frost-bitten, and it became necessary to send them back to Fort 
Edward, in charge of a sergeant. At eleven o'clock on the 
night of the 5th, they reached Sabbath day point,^ the cold 
causing them great suffering. Starting again at two o'clock, 
the}' reached the lauding place at the foot of the \ake at eight 
o'clock in the morning. Scouts were now despatched in various 
directions, and it was ascertained that two working parties of 
the French were out on the east side of the lake. The remainder 
of the day was devoted to areconnoissance of the French works. 
Rogers with forty-nine rangers and the party of Mohawks under 
Captain Lotridge accompanied the engineer to the bold pro- 
montory overlooking the scene rendered memorable by the 

'" N. B. The exterior circuite of Fort Edward is nearly 1569 feet. And as I am 
informed took nearly two seasons to build it." — Doc. Hut. N. T., vol. iv, p. 524. 

" On a manuscrijjt map of prreat afje in the State Library there is marked near 
this place a locality by the name of Indian rock. 

' When and upon what occasion this ceiebra'»;d landinj? place received the name 
of Sabbath day jjoint is involved in obscurity. The guide books with customary 
inaccuracy vary in their accounts, and none of them are correct. One assigns the 
occasion of Abercrombie's landing ou a sabbath morning in 1758, and another that 
of Amherst in 1755. The official correspondence and returns go to show that the 
name was in common use in 1757-8. — Vide Colonial Records, and Rogers's Journal. 



I 



DISPATCHES. 335 

-bloody repulse of the preceding year, while Captain Williams 
was left behind with thirty rangers and regulars as a corps of 
reserve. After the return of the party of observation, five In- 
dians with one of the rangers was detailed to watch the return 
of the fatigue parties and take note of their numbers. At night 
the engineer visited the French intrench ments accompanied by 
an escort of ten men under the command of Lieutenant Tute. 
The necessary observations being completed the engineer with 
his party returned at midnight, and in consequence of the severe 
cold, they, with the remainder of the regulars and rangers, were 
sent back to Sabbath-day point, where fires were built and a 
temporary camp established. At three o'clock on the following 
morning the remainder of the force consisting of the Mohawks, 
forty of the rangers and one regular under the command of 
Rogers, started to intercept the laborers engaged in cutting wood, 
who were discovered the previous day. By a rapid march, they 
succeeded in crossing South bay, and reaching a poiiit nearly 
opposite the fort before sunrise. They dashed in upon the 
choppers and succeeded in killing or capturing nearly all of them. 
The garrison being alarmed, a force of one hundred and fifty 
regulars and eighty Canadians and Indians, started in pursuit but 
the retreat was so well organized that they were repulsed at 
every assault, and finally being pursued by the Mohawks, were 
routed with considerable loss. The enduing night they rejoined 
their comrades at Sabbath-day point, and participated in the 
comforts of the blazing camp fires. The next day's march 
brought them to Long Island in Lake George, where Ihey en- 
camped for the night. Before leaving. Lieutenant Tute was 
detached express with the following letter : 

" Camp at Sabbath-Day Point, "I 
8 o'clock, A. M. / 

" Sir : I would inform you that sixty Indians in two parties, have gone 
toward Fort Edward and Saratoga, and I fear they will strike a blow be- 
fore this reaches you. Mr. Brehme, the engineer, has completed his busi- 
ness agreeably to his orders ; since which I have taken and destroyed several 
of the enemy near Ticonderoga, as the bearer will inform. The Mohawks 
behaved well, and ventured within pistol shut of the fort. The weather 
is extremely severe, and we are compelled to carry some of our men whose 
feet are frozen. " R. Rogers. 

"N. B. — Two-thirds of my detachment have frozen their feet." 



• 336 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

To this communication the following reply was returned : 

" Fort Edward, March 20, 17^9. 

" Dear Sir : I congratulate you on your success, and send twenty-two 
sleighs to transport your sick. You will also bring as many boards [these 
had been left the previous season at the south end of Lake George, and 
were now required for use at Fort Edward,] as you can conveniently. 
My compliments to Captain Williams and the gentlemen. 

" Your most obed't serv't, 

" Fred Haldiman. 

" P. S — The signal guns have been fired to give notice to the different 
forts to be on their guard. Nothing has yet appeared." 



The guns had the effect to intimidate a party of savages in the 
vicinity of Fort Miller eight miles south of Fort Edward, and 
thinking that they were discovered returned back from their 
fruitless errand. At the south end of Lake George the return- 
ing party were met by an escort of one hundred men accom- 
panied by the sleighs, which were a great relief to the foot-sore 
and worn-out rangers. The entire party reached the fort without 
further molestation. 

The month following this adventure Gen. Amherst left New 
York on his way toward the northern frontier, and on the 3d of 
May arrived at Albany, where the troops and new levies had 
already begun to assemble. These were immediately placed 
under active discipline, preparatory to their march to the north. 
In the meanwhile, the artillery, munitions, and provisions for 
the approaching campaign were being gathered rapidly in at 
this point, under Amherst's vigilant supervision. The month 
of May was devoted to drilling the troops as fast as they gathered 
at Albany, while the regular forces in camp were forwarded to 
Fort Edward by detachments as soon as they could be supplied 
with the necessary stores. In the meantime. Major West was 
despatched by the orders of Amherst with a company of troops 
and laborers for the purpose of constructing an intermediate 
post between Lake George and Fort Edward. In compliance 
with this order, a site Avas selected in the neighborhood of the 
recent massacre on the south bank of the Half-way brook, and 
a few rods to the east of the old military road. Here, a stock- 
ade fortress was thrown up, which was surrounded on three of 
its sides by a ditch and counterscarp, while the rear was pro- 



BLOODY EUN. 337 

tected by a heavy, impassable morass.^ This post was supplied 
with artillery and placed in chars^e of a small garrison under 
the command of Major West. To this fortification was given 
the nanie of Fort Amherst in honor of the commander-in-chief.'^ 
About the same time a picketed fort was erected at the head of 
Lake Charaplain for the purpose of checking the irruptions of 
the French and Indians.^ 

As the army was thus slowly gathering at Fort Edward, Fort 
Miller was in possession of a small detachment of regular troops. 
A party of these ventured out one day on a fishing excursiou 
to a small stream in the vicinity. While following their amuse- 
ment, they fell into an ambush of Indians who were lurking in 
the neighborhood, and seven of their number fell victims to 
savage fury. The remainder escaped to the fort, and a pursuit 
was immediately instituted, but the marauders were not to be 
found. The place of this massacre is commemorated by the 
name of the Bloody run.* 

About the last of May (1759) the provincial levies had assem- 
bled at Albany and the quota assigned to Rogers's corps were 
forwarded to the rangers' camp on the island at Fort Edward.^ 
Rogers, having paid his respects to the commanding general at 
Albany during the early part of the month, had received assu- 
rances of his confirmation as major in the regular army with 

' June 31, 1759. The stockade at the 7 mile post was finished to day. — Knox's 
Hist. Journal, 376. 

* The remains of this fortification with its cellars and embankments are still to 
be seen on what is to this day called the Garrison ground on the cross road leading 
from the Champlain place to the brick yard. Some years since, Geo. W. Cheney, 
Esq., found here a pair of silver sleeve buttons marked " P," which he insists be- 
longed to the famous General Putnam. 

" " Within the memory of some of our citizens, the whole brow of the hill, east 
of Church street, and south of High street, was enclosed by an embankment, which 
formed the base of a picket fort, said to have been constructed during that war," 
(i. e. the French war of 1766-63). — Kellogg's Historical Discourse, p. 4. 

* " An eighth of a mile westward is Bloody run, a stream which comes leaping 
in sparkling cascades from the hills, and alFords fine trout fishing. * * * This 
clear mountain stream enters the Hudson a little above Fort Miller, where the river 
makes a sudden curve, and where, before the erection of the dam at the rapids, 
it was quite shallow, and usually fordable. This was the crossing place for the 
armies ; and there are still to be seen some of the logs and stones upon the shore, 
which formed a part of the old King's road leading to the fording place." — Field 
Book of the Revolution, vol. i, p. 94. 

^ " According to the report of all these prisoners the island where Robert Rogers's 
company is quartered is in progress of being palisaded ; that partisan had only 
220 men with him." — Beport of Gov. Vaudreuil to M. Berryer, 28th March, 1759. 
43 



338 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

rank from the date of his first commission. On his return to 
Fort Edward, May 15th, Rogers learned to his regret of the 
death of Capt. Burbauk, who with a party of thirty men was 
captured by the Indians while on a scouting expedition. One 
of the captors mistaking the brave captain for Rogers, exultingly 
displayed his bleeding scalp to some of the prisoners ; and when 
informed of their mistake, the savages expressed regret, as they 
stood indebted to the captain for kindness. Gen. Gage, who 
was a prominent officer in Amherst's campaign, being assigned 
to leading and important duties, with a strong detachment was 
sent forward in advance of the main army, and taking position 
at the head of the lake, proceeded to the erection of some tem- 
porary defenses on a commanding eminence, spoken of as 
Element hill, in one of the soldier's journals, to the west of the 
old Fort Wm. Henry, to which was given the name of Fort 
Gage,^ in honor of its builder.(a) Gage was soon afterward 
joined by Stark with three companies of rangers. Rogers, with 
the other three companies, remained at Fort Edward, engaged 
in frequent scouts and reconnoissances, under the immediate 
supervision of Amherst in person. 



' The author of this work has souiiht diligently for some account or description 
of this fortification, whose name and site, tradition has preserved for more than a 
century, but none has been found. It is on the authority of the late Hon. Wm. 
Hay, of Saratoga Springs, that the period above named is given as the date of its 
construction. It was probably little more than a redoubt, and intended as a flank 
support to the main fortifications now known as the ruins of Fort George. 

(a) Thomas Gage was the second son of the 1st, and father of the 3d, Viscount 
Gage of Castlebar, in the county of Mayo, Ireland. In 1755 he accompanied the 
expedition under General Braddock, against Fort Du Quosne, as lieutenant colonel 
of the 44th regiment, and commanded the vanguard in the fatal engagement of the 
9th July, when he was slightly wounded. After the battle he carried the general 
oflF the field. In May, 1758, he was appointed colonel of the 80th regiment and brig, 
general, and on the 8th December following, married Margaret, daughter of Peter 
Kemble, Esq., president of the council of New Jersey. In 1759 he accomjianied 
the expedition under General Amherst, and led the 2d column against Fort Ticon- 
deroga, which however, had been abandoned by the French before the arrival of 
the English troops. On learning the death of General Prideaux, General Am- 
herst dispatched Brigadier Gage on the 28th July to take command of that division 
of the army, but Fort Niagara had already been reduced by Sir William Johnson. 

On the 11th July, in the following year, he departed from Oswego with the 
army to Montreal, of which city he was appointed governor, after its cajiitulation. 
He was promoted in May, 1761, to the rank of major general, and in March fol- 
lowing became colonel of the 22d regiment of foot. At the departure of General 
Amherst for England in 17G3, Major General Gage succeeded him as commander- 
in-chief of his majesty's forces in North America. He rose to be lieutenant general 
in 1770, and resided in New York until May, 1774, when he removed to Boston, 
on being appointed governor of Massachusetts. He was a suitable instrument for 



EXECUTION OF DESERTERS. 339 

The main body of the array was put in motion in the early 
part of June, and after three days' march General Amherst 
encamped ivith his entire force at Fort Edward. Here the 
troops were again placed under a rigid system of discipline, 
exercise, and drill to prepare them for their coming duties. 
The raw and inexperienced provincials who composed the greater 
portion of the army, unused to the irksome and rigid require- 
ments of stern military rules, soon manifested a disposition to 
return to the homes from which they had been so uncere- 
moniously torn. Wearied and heartsick of the monotonous 
camp duties assigned them, with a certain prospect of a danger- 
ous march and a sanguinary battlefield before them, the spirit 
of insubordination ^ and desertion spread to an alarming extent ; 
the provincials by twos, thi^ees, and even whole platoons steal- 
ing off" to the woods, despite the most exacting vigilance, and 
animated appeals to their patriotism and courage. At length 
Amherst found it necessary to resort to the terrible death 
penalty to stay the prggress of the alarming defection in his 
fast dwindling army. Four deserters, Dunwood, Ward, Rogers 

executing the purposes of a tyrannical ministry and parliament. Several regi- 
ments soon followed him, and he began to repair the fortifications upon Boston 
Neck. The powder in the arsenal at Charleston was seized ; detachments were 
sent out to take possession of the stores in Salem and Concord and the battle of 
Lexington became the signal of war. In May, 1775, the provincial congress de- 
clared Gage to be an inveterate enemy of the country, disqualified from serving 
the colony as governor and unworthy of obedience. From this time the exercise 
of his functions was confined to Boston. In June he issued a proclamation offering 
pardon to all the rebels excepting Samuel Adams and John Hancock, and pro- 
claimed martial law ; but the affair of Breed's hill, a few days afterwards, proved 
to him that he had mistaken the character of the Americans. In October he em- 
barked for England, and was succeeded in command by Sir William Howe. His 
conduct towards the inhabitants of Boston in promising them liberty to leave the 
town on the delivery of their arms, and then detaining many of them, has been 
reprobated for its treachery. In 1783 he was appointed colonel of the 17th light 
dragoons, and rose to the rank of general of the army in the following month of 
November. General Gage died in England on the 3d of April, 1787. His widow 
survived him until the 9th February, 183-4, when she died aged 90 years." — Wilson's 
Orderly Book {MunseWs Hist. Series), p. 53-3, ?iote. 

' " Thomas Burk, waggoner, tryed by a court martiall of the line for abusing 
and offering to strick his officer at Half-way brook, is found guilty of the crime 
laid to his charge, and sentenced to receive four hundred lashes. The general 
approves of the above sentence, and orders that the said Thomas Burk is marched 
to-morrow morning at 5 o'clock by the provost guard, regiment to regiment 
and that he receives 30 lashes at each of the 4 regular regiments, beginning at 
Forbse's and so on to the right. That he also receives 30 lashes each at the head 
of 8 provincial regiments, and forty at the head of Schuyler's.'' — Wilson's Orderly 
Book {Mumell's Hist. Series), p. 83. 



340 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURT. 

and Harris by name, were apprehended, and after a trial by 
court martial, were shot in the sight of the whole army, which 
was drawn out in battle array to witness the execution. This 
stringent measure had the desired effect in stopping the pro- 
gress of desertion.^ 

About this time M. de Bourlemaque, the commandant of the 
French forces at Carillon, despatched a flag of truce by aparty 
of French officers to General Amherst at Fort Edward for the 
ostensible purpose of arranging the preliminaries of a treaty ; 
but in reality to ascertain the strength of the garrison and its 
defenses. By the prudence of Amherst, their design was de- 
feated. The approaching party was directed to halt at a suit- 
able distance from the fort, at which place the conference was 
held, thus depriving them of a plausible pretext for visiting the 
fort. To check in some degree the barbarities committed by 
the enemy's scouting parties on the unoffending inhabitants of 
the frontier. General Amherst forwarded a copy of the follow- 
ing proclamation to the governor of Canada. " No scouting 
party or others in the army, are to scalp' women or children be- 
longing to the enemy. They are, if possible, to take them 
prisoners, but not to injure them on any account, the general 
being determined, should the enemy continue to murder and 
scalp women and children, subjects of the King of Great 
Britain, tb revenge it by the death of two men of the enemy, 
for every woman or child murdered by them." This order 
which was carried secretly into the French camp, had the 
effect of relieving the campaign of the long catalogue of horrors, 
which, since the commencement of the war had annually dar- 
kened the pages of history. 

' Of the severity of the discipline followed in this campaign, the following is an 
illustration. 

TicoNDEROGA, 3d August, 1759. 
" George Edwards a deserter of the 17th regiment is to suffer death. The 
Picquits of the line to assemble immediately in the front of Montgomerys. The 
commanding officer of Forbes will order that regiment to erect a gallows imme- 
diately on the battery in front of Montgomerys, where the prisoner, George Ed- 
wards, is to be hanged in his French coat, with a libble on his breast. Hanged 
for Deserting to the French. He is to be hanging all day and at the retreat beating 
he is to be buried very deep under the gallows, and his French coat with him. 
This to be put in execution instantly, and if the provost martiall does not find a 
hangman, the commanding officer of the Picquitts will order that provost 
martiall does it himself." — Wilson's Orderly Book {MunseU's Hist. Series), p. 113. 



342 mSTORT OF the tows of QrEENSBITRT. 

Towards the close of June/ the army, amounting to six 
thousand men, preceded by Rogers's rangers, advanced in two 
columns to the head of Lake George, where they erected their 
camp, very nearly on the ground occupied by Abercrombie the 
year before. On the following day, Amherst traced a plan for 
a fortification near the camp ground, which was soon afterwards 
constructed, and whose ruins are now crumbling in massive 
piles upon the shrub-grown eminence to the east of the village 
of Caldwell.- While the army remained posted at this position, 

" Fort Edward, 19tli June, 1759. 
" Afier Orders. 

' " Three or four Ox Carts will be delivered to the Xew Jersey and first Connec- 
ticut Regiment this Evening, and 7 Ox Carts and a Waggon to be delivered to the 
Royall this Evening, that thev niav be loaded to-morrow at the Brake of Day. 
The above Regiments are at that Time to strick their Tents, and are to be under 
the command of Collo. Forster, who will receive his Orders from the Generall. 
The Regiments are to March by the Left, the Rovall to march along the Front of 
the Line, jovning the Jersey Regiment, then both joyning the Connecticut Re- 
giment, the whole to proceed as Collo. Forster will direct. Capt. Brewer and 60 
Rangers joyning them as they march from the Camp, eight hundred working 
Men for mending the roads to-morrow, half will take their Arms, the other half 
will take Tools : the whole to be Commanded by two Field Officers, and repaire 
the Roads to the Four Mile Post." — Wilson's Ordirly Book, {MunselVsHist. Series), 
p. 35. 

"June 19, 1759. The Royal, with the New Jersey Regiment and Connecticut 
troops marched this Morning from Fort Edward to the Seven Mile Post, under 
the Command of Colonel Forster ; from thence the Colonel proceeded with the 
Royal, 55th and New Jersey Regiments, an Officer of Artillery and two field-pieces, 
one company of rangers, and some Indians, towards the lake, and took post about 
three miles on this side of it. The Colonel immediately cleared his ground threw 
up an intrenchment, and fortified it with the trees that were felled." — Knox's 
Journal, 1, 373. 

" Aft€r Orders, 20th June. 

* * * " 2 Companys of Montgomery, to march to Morrow Morning be- 
fore Day to relieve Capt. Delsell at the 4 Mile Post. The commanding Officer 
will escort the Batteaux as far as that Post, and will receive further orders at 3 
o'clock this Night."— Wilson's Orderly Book {Munseirs Hist. Series), p. 37. 

' In a work in the X. Y. State Library, entitled Plans and Forts in America, 
1765, may be found the following Plan of part of Fort George, with the 
barracks, etc., erected in the year 1759, viz : 

A. " Fort showing what was finished." This was the south-west bastion or 

angle of the fort which was an irregular quadrangle in form. 

1. Officer's barracks. 2. Soldier's barracks. 3. Powder magazine. 4. 
Guard room. 5. The kitchen. 6. 6 store bouses. 7. Saw mill in the 
swamp to the South West. 

B. Stockaded fort erected to serve during the time the other was building. 

In addition to which, is a garden plot of considerable size, octagonal in form, 
near the north-east angle. Also a stone wall of considerable size, semicircular 
in form on the eastern side, probably designed as a breastwork against musketry. 



\ 



move:ments of troops. 343 

several days elapsed in bringing up from the various posts be- 
low, the artillery, heavy stores, boats and baggage, necessary 
for prosecuting the siege of Forts Carillon and St. Frederic. 

During this time the corvette, Halifax, which had been sunk 
at the head of the lake after Abercrombie's retreat the preced- 
ing year, was raised and refitted, together with several batteaux, 
and a large floating battery, in which labor Captain Loring of 
the English navy, lent his most efficient aid. In the meantime 
several skirmishes both by land and water occurred between 
the scouting parties of the opposing forces, in the majority of 
which the French were triumphant. 

Towards the end of July, the baggage and artillery having 
arrived, the troops were embarked in the batteaux which had 
been brought overland, and proceeded down Lake George. 
Like to the array of the preceding year, Amherst's force was 
arranged in four columns, the two centre ones consisting of six 
battalions of regulars numbering five thousand seven hundred 
and fifty-three men, being led by General Amherst in person ; 
while the two wings comprised nine battalions of provincials 
and a regiment of light iiifautry amounting in all to five thou- 
sand two hundred and seventy-nine men under the command 
of General Gage. The entire force amounted to eleven thousand 
one hundred and thirty-three men, including one hundred and 
eleven of the Royal artillery, having in charge fifty-four pieces 
of artillery of various calibre. 

On their passage through the lake, the general with his stafiT 
landed on the point where Abercrombie built his camp-fires the 
year before. Here the army bivouacked on the night of July 
the 21st. Notwithstanding the weather was tempestuous, and 
the lake rough and boisterous, the army resumed its progress 
in the morning. With Rogers's corps in advance, the boats 
pushed steadily forward through the whitened crests of the roll- 
ing waves and debarked on the west side of the outlet of Lake 
George.^ The rangers pushed rapidly forward across the mount- 
ain ridge and through the thick woods, and were in a short 
time in possession of the bridge and saw mills at the lower falls, 
which, in their precipitate retreat, the enemy had failed to de- 
stroy. On the rising ground above, now known as Mount Hope, 

' The main army landed near tlie spot wlaere Abercrombie bad disembarked tbe 
year before, and proceeded down tbe left bank of tbe outlet, on nearly tbe same 
route pursued by Lord Howe's corps tbe previous year. — Ihe Conquest of Canada, 
vol. u, p. 148. 



344 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

they were met by a detachment of the regiment de Berry and 
a small body of Indians under the command of Captain Bournie. 
An active skirmish ensued, in which the French were repulsed, 
several of their number killed and wounded and four taken 
prisoners. Securing their wounded, the remnant of the French 
advanced party made a precipitate retreat to their fortress two 
miles distant. This was accomplished by the rangers before 
they were joined by the grenadiers and light infantry in the 
command of Colonel Haviland. The heights were occupied the 
same night by Amherst with the remainder of the army. The 
rangers and Col. Haviland's corps still held the advance, and 
were greatly annoyed during the night by a galling fire from 
flying parties of Canadians and Indians, scouting at the front. 
A redoubt, and trench with breast-works -had been thrown up 
on these heights the previous year, prior to the advance of the 
English army. The name of Mount Hope was at this time 
conferred upon this locality, significant of the cheering antici- 
pation of conquest and success, which animated the British 
forces. Here the entire army laid upon their arms the night 
of July 22d. The following morning, at an early hour, the 
armies of the rangers were again called in requisition. They 
were directed to move with caution and celerity across the 
Chestnut plain to the nearest point on Lake Champlain, near 
the enemy's batteries. At the same time a detachment was 
ordered to the front to carry the main intrencbment by assault, 
which was done, the enemy retiring to their stronghold without 
much show of opposition. At about the same time one of the 
outworks on Lake Champlain was stormed and taken posses- 
sion of by a party of two hundred rangers. Up to this time the 
provincial regiments had been busily engaged in transporting 
the artillery and ammunition across from the other lake. 

The whole army under cover of the artillery now moved for- 
ward with care and circumspection, and before noon, was drawn 
up in line of battle before the barricade and embankment which, 
the year previously, had been the scene of such terrific slaughter. 
Here in the middle of these memorable works, was discovered 
a deep trench containing the remains of those who had fallen 
in last year's murderous assault. 

Finding the lines deserted, Amherst caused his grenadiers to 
push forward and occupy the intrenchments, while the main 
army encamped a short distance to the rear. 



FORT CARILLON ABANDONED. 345 

The defense of the frontier of Lake St. Sacrament and fortress 
of Carillon, was entrusted at this time to M. de Bourlemaque, 
an officer of distinguished ability, who for two campaigns had 
served with great success in this vicinity. The garrison con- 
sisted of one battalion of the regiment of La-Reine, two battal- 
ions of the regiments of Berry, one hundred and tifty soldiers 
detached from the other five battalions, an equal number of 
soldiers of the marine, and eight hundred provincial militia, 
making an aggregate of two thousand three hundred men. 
His instructions, based upon despatches recently received from 
the court of France, were not to hazard an engagement, but to 
fall back before the advance of the English army, and take po- 
sition upon an island in the river St. John, which was judged 
to be the post best adapted to protect the frontier.^ The main 
body of the French and Canadian forces were at this time drawn 
away by Montcalm to the north for the defense of the almost im- 
pregnable stronghold of Quebec, which was being threatened by 
the veteran brigades under the command of the daring Wolfe. 

M. de Bourlemaque, finding the English army too well pre- 
pared for an attack, and he being too circumspect to trust the 
event of a siege, prudently resolved to act in conformity with 
his instructions, and abandon the fortress to its inevitable fate. 
Accordingly preparations were made for a retreat, and during 
the night of the 23(1 the main division of the army filed noiselessly 
out and retired to their boats. The final defense of the post 
was committed to the care of Capt, d'Hebecourt and four 
hundred men. During the retreat of the main body the atten- 
tion of the British army was diverted by the assault of this 
small force upon the intrenchments. This threw the English 
lines into such confusion that they fired upon each other, thus 
enabling the assaulting party to retire in safety to their de- 
fenses. In this aff'ray the English lost sixteen men. During 
the next three days,'the fire from the French batteries was main- 
tained with great activity and efi'ect, holding the English well 
in check. Among the killed in these discharges, was Colonel 
Townsend, assistant adjutant-general, an officer of great ability, 
and universally beloved throughout the army. 

During this period, the English engineers were busily en- 
gaged in planting siege batteries, while a portion of the army 

' Vide Colonial Documents, vol. x, p. 105-4. 
44 



346 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

were employed in preparing fascines. At the same time a por- 
tion of the rangers were despatched on a scout to Crown Point. 
To Major Rogers was entrusted the important duty of cutting 
away a large boom, which the French had built across the 
narrow part of the lake, opposite the fort, to obstruct the navi- 
gation. Day by day, the trenches were advancing, and the 
English batteries began to play upon the outworks of the fort, 
while their officers and gunners were constantly being picked 
off by the sharpshooters of Rogers's corps, who were engaged 
in skirmishing from the covert of the adjacent forest. 

On the eveningof the 26th, some deserters brought to the En- 
glish camp intelligence that the French had abandoned the fort, 
and, that in expectation of an assault from the besieging army, 
a slow match had been left burning which connected with the 
magazine, and battery, every gun of which was loaded to the 
muzzle with grape, canister and chain shot. In addition to 
this, several mines charged with the most destructive missiles 
were sprung beneath the fortifications. This timely notice 
saved the English forces. At ten o'clock at night, in the sight 
of the whole British army, which was drawn out in anticipation 
of the spectacle, the most terrific explosion took place. Running 
along the cleft chasms in the rocky ground, the yellow fire 
rushed, greedily lapping with the forked tongues of its lambent 
flame, the gaping crevices in the massive masonry, that trem- 
bled, reeled and fell, while the solid earth for many rods shook 
as with the throes of an earthquake. One after another, the 
guns of the fortress flashed out from the sulphurous glow, that 
invested the ruined pile, and their sharp reports were slowly 
answered by long, dull echoes from the deep caverns beneath. 
Bombs, grenades and rockets, booming and whirring through 
the heavy night air, exploded in every direction, trailing earth- 
ward long and glittering lines of various colored light. Soon, 
through the dim haze of smoke and vapor, the glaring red light 
of the barracks and woodwork of the fortress burst forth, re- 
vealing through the veil of surrounding gloom, the ruined 
wrecks hurled in unsightly piles along the line of fortiflcation, 
while here and there, a long gaping fissure in the smoking 
earth exhibited the direction of the mines, and the tremendous 
agencies which had toppled down the massive ramparts and 
towering bastions from their rocky bases. 



A FRENCH RETREAT. 347 

After the mines were sprung, the retreat of the French be- 
came so precipitate that their scouting parties were not called 
in, and these subsequently surrendered themselves as prisoners 
to the English. The same day, two whaleboats, and one large 
scow were transported from Lake George, across the isthmus 
that separates the lake. In these. Major Rogers with sixty 
rangers, embarked at dusk and crossed to the eastern shore of 
Lake Champlain. Before accomplishing the destruction of the 
boom, the party were startled by a terrific explosion. The 
fortress had been undermined by the French, and as soon a8 
the mines were sprung, the garrison embarked in their boats 
and swiftly pulled away to the north. At this juncture Rogers 
with his party, having succeeded in getting their boats across 
the boom, made a sharp attack and drove several of the enemy's 
boats on the east shore, where in the morning, ten boats with 
a large quantity of baggage, fifty casks of powder, and quite an 
amount of shot and fixed ammunition, together with sixteen 
prisoners were captured, and reports of the same returned to 
the general in command the same evening. Through the 
gallantry of a sergeant belonging to one of the batteries of the 
line, the French flag was taken down on the morning of the 
27th, from its elevation among the blazing ruins, and for the 
first time in its dark and bloody history, the red cross of St. 
George flaunted its silken folds above the blackened and grim 
battlements of Carillon. As soon as practicable, a detachment 
of troops was sent to extinguish the flames which yet glowed 
about the ruined fortress. This work was successfully accom- 
plished in a short time without any loss to the captors. I*Tot- 
withstanding the fire, a vast quantity of spoils, including all the 
heavy artillery together with a profusion of light arms and 
munitions of war, fell into the hands of the English. From 
the moment of landing up to the time possession was taken of 
the fort, General Amherst lost only seventy-six men, including 
the wounded, while nearly double that number of the French 
were taken in the progress of the siege, and wei^ now held as 
prisoners of war by the victors. 

Soon after, the fortress at Crown Point having been aban- 
doned by the enemy, was taken possession of by a detachment of 
rangers. The joy with which the capture of these two import- 
ant posts was received throughout the colonies, pervaded all 
ranks of society, and lifted up the vail of doubt and gloom 



348 



HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 



which had so long rested like a funereal pall over the harassed 
frontier. The campaign for the British arms had been an un- 
interrupted record of brilliant achievements and triumphant 
success. North and west as well as here, the conquests fore- 
shadowed a future of brighter promise, enuring to the tranquil- 
ity and happiness of the country at large, and the lasting renown 
of the officers whom the judgment of the great Pitt had selected 
for these responsible trusts, reflecting by their gallant achieve- 
ments additional lustre upon his splendid genius, (a) 

(a) It was during this season of the capture of the fortress at Ticonderoga, that 
Fort George, or all that was ever built of it, was constructed by Col. James Mon- 
tressor of whom the following sketch is taken from Wilson's Orderly Book {Mun- 
sell's Hist. Series), p. 73, note. 

James Montressor (spelled Montrezure in the text), became director of en- 
gineers and lieutenant colonel in the British army 4th January, 1758, in which 
year he was at the head of the engineer department in the expedition against 
Ticonderoga under Abercrombie. He drew the plan of Fort Stanwix and the 
surrounding country in the summer of the same year. He was chief engineer also 
to Amherst's expedition and superintended the construction of Fort George, at 
the head of I/ake George, in July, 1759. He obtained in 1771 a grant of 10,000 
acres of land at the forks of the Pagkataghan, or Otter creek, in the present town 
of Panton, Vt., and in May, 1773, became colonel in the army. He died in the 
month of December, 1775." 




INDIAN DEEDS. 349 




CHAPTER VI. 

The Land Patents — The Dellius Grant — The Lydius Pur- 
chase — The Kataderosseras Patent — The Glen Grant — The 
Qu^ENSBURY Patent. 

)HE greed of wealth, and lust of power, which were 
among the most powerful incentives, and active in- 
strumentalities toward the pushing out, and estab- 
lishment of new settlements in the virgin wilderness 
of the new world, led to the early issue of royal patents, and 
colonial land grants, covering immense and valuable tracts of 
territory to partisan favorites, and needy courtiers. 

Following in the wake of the Van Rensselaers, the Lansings, 
the Bayards, and Van Courtlandts, the Eev. Godfrey Dellius, 
the Dutch minister at Albany, who had the address, and influ- 
ence, to secud'e the appointment as one of the commissioners of 
Indian affairs, made use of his position to obtain the convey- 
ance from the Indians and a subsequent confirmation by patent 
of two large wilderness tracts, bordering upon Lakes Georo-e 
and Champlain and the east banks of the Hudson as far south 
as the Battenkill. To quote the language of the early historian 
of the province,^ he had fraudulently obtained the Indian deeds 
according to which the patent had been granted. * * 

One of the grants included all the land within twelve miles 
on the east side of the Hudson river, and extended twenty miles 
in length, from the north bounds of Saratoga. Another state- 
ment says the patent was made under the great seal of the 
province, bearing date Sept. 3d, 1696, and embraced the ter- 
ritory " lying upon the east side of the Hudson river, between 
the northernmost bounds of Saratoga and the Rock Rossian,^ 
containing about 70 miles in length, and 12 miles broad, subject 
to a yearly rent to the crown of one hundred raccoon skins.^!" 

' SmUKs History of New York, p. 159. 

"^ " At this period, the country on both sides of the Hudson, was called Saratoo-a. 
The Rock Rossian is in Willsborough, Essex county, and is now called Split 
rock." — Macauley's Hist, of N. Y., vol, ir, p. 412, note. 

^ JIunseU's Annals of Albany , vol. i, p. 95. Macauley's Hist, of N. F., vol. ii, 
ut supra. 



350 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

This patent was issued under the great seal of the province, 
by Col. Fletcher while acting as governor in 1696, and included 
the greater portion of Essex, Warren, and Washington counties. 
This with other patents was vacated at the instance of Lord 
Bellamont, at the session of the provincial assembly, which was 
organized March 21st, 1699. ^Notwithstanding this fact, Dellius 
still asserted his claim and right to the territory in question, 
and on his return to Holland is commonly stated to have dis- 
posed of his interests therein to his successor in the ministry at 
Albany, the Rev. John Lydius.^ 

Nearly all the earlier writers concur with singular unanimity 
in making this statement, and are endorsed by such later writers 
as Gordon, Fitch and Lossiug. 

"In a pamphlet exposition of the title of Lydius, printed at 
New Haven in 1764, doubtless by his authority, he says nothing 
about the Dellius grant, but claims under an Indian deed in 
language as follows : 

" The father of the present Colonel Lydius, being a minister 
of the gospel at Albany, was well known to have taken much 
pains with the Mohawk Indians for a series of years, in which 
(on his decease) he was succeeded by his son aforesaid, who 
(though not a clergyman) still continued their instruction, till 
he so far ingratiated himself into their favor, that on the first 
day of February, 1732, he obtained a deed of the heads of that 
nation, for two certain tracts of land lying on Otter creek and 
Wood creek, and bounded as follows : Beginning at the mouth 
of Otter creek, where it empties into Lake Charaplain and runs 
easterly, six Dutch miles (equal to twenty-four English ;) then 
runs southerly to the uppermost falls on Otter creek, being about 
fifteen Dutch miles, be the same more or less; then westerly six 
Dutch miles, and thence northerly to the place of beginning. 
The other on Wood creek beginning two Dutch miles and a 
half due north of the place called Kingequaghtenock^ or the falls 

' Lydius was not tlie immediate successor of Dellius. In Aufjust, 1683, the Re- 
formed Dutch church of Albany, took measures for determining the salary of the 
newly arrived pastor from Holland, the Rev. Godefridus Dellius. On the 12th of 
May, 1G99, he was deposed by act of general assembly " from the exercises of his 
ministerial function in the city and county of Albany, for the illegal and surrepti- 
tious obtaining of said grants." Having ten months in which to procure his rein- 
statement, the Rev. John Peter Nucella occupied the pulpit as a temporary supply 
until the 20th of July, 1700, when he was succeeded by the Rev. John Lydius 
whose ministry tenninated with his death 1st March, 1700. — MunseU's Annals of 
Albany, vol. i, pp. 82-88, 95. W 






tq 




Saratoga. 



The Delltus Grant of 1696. 



This Grant was bounded west by the Hudson, north and south by dotted lines and Wood 
creelc. The shaded part represents the Grant in two parcels as erroneously claimed by Duane.— 
HaWe Hist. Vermont^ p. 490. 



352 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

on Wood creek ; and thence runs westerly to the falls on Hudson 
river, going to Lake St. Sacrament; thence down said river five 
Dutch miles; and thence running easterly five Dutch miles; 
thence southerly three Dutch miles and a half; thence easterly 
five Dutch miles ; and thence northerly to the place of beginning. 

The pamphlet then states that his title by the Indian deed was 
confirmed and declared valid by Governor Shirley of Massachu- 
setts, in obedience to the special command of his majesty. The 
Indian deed to Lydius, as well as the confirmation of it, if they 
ever existed, were doubtless both founded in fraud. But the 
description of the laud claimed by Lydius, as well as the title 
under which he professes to derive it, seems to exclude any idea 
that it had any connection with the previous grant to Dellius." ^ 

On the strength of this claim, Mr. John Henry Lydius, son of 
the minister, erected a block house on the south side of Fort Ed- 
ward creek and a trading post on the site of old Fort ISTicholson 
which had been built as early as 1709 ; built mills, supplied with 
■water from a wing-dam extending from the mainland to the 
island opposite the village, put up a number of log dwellings, 
introduced a small colony of dependents, and, for a period of 
ten years, maintained a considerable state and establishment, 
claiming for himself the title of governor of Fort Edward in his 
majesty's dominions of North America.^ He was familiar with 
many of the Indian dialects, was often consulted by Sir William 
Johnson in reference to Indian afltairs, and was to some extent 
the rival of the astute baronet, in the infiuence and regard of 
the wandering tribes, who enjoyed his hospitality, accepted his 
gifts, and looked up to him as their father. His little settle- 
ment and fort which was named for him, were once or twice 
made the subject of incursions by the savages in 1745, when 
the improvements were utterly destroyed and the inhabitants 
driven ofl:*. They were afterwards rebuilt and reoccupied to some 
extent, and Lydius is supposed to have acquired a handsome 
property in the prosecution of his trafiic with the Indians. 
After the outbreak of the last French war, he held for a year 

' Dr. Hall in No. 5, vol. iii, Historical Magazine for 1868, p. 310. It will be 
perceived by the above defined boundaries, that the greater portion of the town 
of Queensbury was included in the Lydius claim. 

' " Lydius soon afterward built a stone trading house upon the site of Fort Ed- 
ward. Its door and windows were strongly barred, and near the roof, the walls 
were pierced for musketry. It was erected upon a high mound, and palisaded, as 
a defense against enemies." — Lossing's Hudson, p. 74. « 



THE KAYADEROSSERAS PATENT. 353 

or more some subordinate position in connection with the pub- 
lic service, but falling into disagreement with his superiors he 
afterwards returned to Europe, and disappeared from public 
view. He died at Kensington near London, Eug., in the spring 
of 1791, at the advanced age of 98. 

We next come to the consideration of the Kayaderosseras 
patent,^ whose north line cuts through the west and south west 
portions of the town, and from the beginning has given rise to 
almost interminable litigation. The early law reports ^ of the 
century, are loaded with these cases, whose various points and 
issues have hardly yet been completely tested. One of the more 
recent cases was tried in 1857, being brought by Thomas B. 
Bennett, who claimed under the Kayaderosseras patent, against 
Abraham Wing and others who also claimed under the same 
patent but from a different deed. Bennett's action being founded 
on a supposition that Wing would claim under the Queensbury 
patent, he was defeated with costs. It is proper to state how- 
ever, that there were other points in issue. 

The great Kayaderosseras patent, ^ was founded on a grant 

' The original Kayaderosseras patent is on file in the county clerk's olfice at 
Ballston Spa. 

^ Brandt ex dem Walton and others, against O. and D. Ogden, Gaines's Reports, 
vol. Ill, p. 6, 1803. The question in issue seems to have been whether Fort Miller 
falls, or Baker's falls were tlie third fall on the Hudson river. At this trial Fort 
Miller was decided to be the third fall ; but at the next trial the decision was re- 
versed, and it was afterward irrevocably established that Baker's falls was the 
third fall on the Hudson river, which agrees with the field books and maps of early 
surveys. A rock at this point conspicuously marked as a monument was the 
starting point of the triaugulations and surveys. See Brandt ex dem Walton 
against 0. and D. Ogden, Feb., 1806, \st Johnson, p. 156. 

' " Kayaderosseras is the name of the creek which flows into Saratoga lake, and 
of the mountain in which it arises, west of South Corinth, and of the colonial pa- 
tent covering creek, mountain, and a large tract of adjacent land, including about 
half of Saratoga county, and some of Warren." — Letter to the author from Judge 
Say. 

Copy of a Descnption of Kayaderosseras Patent from the Wing M8S. 

" Kayaderosseras alias Queensbury, granted by Queen Anne, the 2d day of Nov., 
1708 beginning at a place in Schenectady river about three miles distant from the 
south westerly bounds of Nistigione, the said place being the south-westerly corner 
ot the patent then lately granted to Nanning Harmanse, Peter Fauconier, and 
others, thence along the said Schenectady river westerly to the southeasterly 
corner of a patent lately granted to William Apple, thence along the easterly, 
northerly and westerly lines of the said William Apple's patent down to the above 
said river, thence to Schenectady bounds, or the south-westerly corner of the said 
patent on the said river, so along the easterly northerly and westerly bounds 
45 



354 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

obtained in 1702 from two Mohawk sachems named Ter-jen-nin- 
ho-ge, or Joseph, and De-han-och-rak-has, or Hendrick. The 
grantees were Robert Livingston and David Schuyler; and the 
consideration, sundry goods, wares and merchandise. It was 
soon afterward alleged that the purchase was fraudulent, the 
chiefs signing the deed being intoxicated for that purpose, and 
in DO way authorized by their tribe to dispose of the lands em- 
braced in the purchase, and that much more territory was 
claimed and subsequently granted by patent than was embraced 
even by this fraudulent conveyance. For upwards of sixty years, 
this transaction was a prolific source of anxiety to the Indians, 
and of reproach and trouble to the whites. At a council held 
with the lower castle of the Mohawks at Albany, Thursday, June 
27, 1754, Lieut. Gov. James De Lancy presiding, the speaker in 
behalf of the Indians said : 

" Brother, we are told a large tract of land has been taken up 
called Kayaderosseras, beginning at the half moon,^ and so along 
up the Hudson river, to the third fall and thence to the Cack- 
nowaga or Canada creek which is about four or five miles above 
the Mohawk, which, upon enquiry among our old men, we can- 
not find was ever sold, and as to the particular persons, many 

thereof down to the said river again, thence along the said river up westerly to 
the south-easterly bounds of a tract of land then lately granted to Ebenezer Wil- 
son, and John Abeel, and so along the patent round to the south-westerly corner 
thereof up the said Schenectada river then continuing to run westerly up said 
Schenectada river to a place or hill called Tweetonoudo being five miles distant 
or thereabouts from the south-westerly corner of the Wilson and Abeel's patent, 
thence northerly to the northwesternmost head of a creek called Kayaderosseras 
about fourteen miles more or less, thence eight miles more northerly, then easterly 
or northeasterly to the third falls on Albany river about twenty miles, more or 
less thence along the said river down southerly to the northeasterly bounds of 
Saratoga thence along the said Saratoga northerly, westerly and southerly bounds 
on the said river, thence to the north-easterly corner of Anthony Van Schaik's 
lands on the said river, so northerly and westerly along the said Van Schaik's 
patent to the north-east corner of the above said patent granted to Naning Har- 
manse, Peter Fauconier and others thence along the northerly and Avesterly bounds 
thereof down to the above said river of Schenectada it being the place where it 
first began, which said tract of land we have divided into twenty-five allotments 
viz : Allotment No. 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 31, 22, 23, 24, and 25, are controverted, and 
the remaining allotments, viz.: Allotment No. 1, 2, 5, 6, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 
18, 19, and 20, are not controverted, also the lots No. 1 and 2, distinguished in the 
map by the red stain, which together contain 21,350 acres we have set apart for 
defraying the charges of the partition." (Not signed.) 

* " The arable land immediately above, (the Cohoes fall), they (the Dutch), de- 
noted as the Halve maan, the half moon, from its crescent like form along the hill 
on the western side." — Judge Benson inMunseWs Annals of Albany, vol. 2, p. 236. 



THE KA.YADEROSSERAS PATENT. 355 

of them live in this towu,^ but there are so great a number, we 
cannot name them." 

This purchase was confirmed by letters patent from the crown 
in 1708 to thirteen patentees and contained by estimation about 
800,000 acres lying between the Hudson and Mohawk rivers. 
A great proportion of the land titles in Saratoga county, as also 
the western part of Warren county, are predicated upon this 
grant.^ The points in controversy were amicably settled in 1768, 
by the recession to the natives of a portion of the disputed ter- 
ritory lying near the Mohawk river,^ and the payment by the 
proprietors of 5,000 dollars for the remainder, extending on the 
Hudson (with the exception of two small patents previously 
issued) to the falls at Sandy Hill. 

The word Kayaderosseras, is derived from the creek of that 
name, and signifies the crooked stream, which graphically de- 
scribes it. 

Among the ancient landmarks connected with the survey of 
this tract, were a rock on the west side of the river near the 
foot of Baker's falls ; a point near the Big falls in the town of 
Luzerne, Warren co. ; and a towering pine, whose lofty crest, 
is at all seasons of the year conspicuous from the summit of the 
Palmertown mountain, about two miles north from Doe's 
Corners in the town of Wilton. The swerve of the river out of 
its general direction, from the Queensbury west line, to Baker's 
falls, left a gore containing upwards of two thousand acres, be- 
tween the north line of the Kayaderosseras patent, and the Hud- 
sou river at and below Glen's Falls. 

This tract afterwards became known as the Glen patent. 
It was at one time petitioned for, as appears by documents on 
file in the secretary of state's office at Albany, by Simon and 
John Hemsen, on the 14th of September, 1769, and an order 
was issued in council for its conveyance on the 29th of Sep- 
tember, 1770. In the mean time, however, other claims were 
asserted as appears by the following : 

* Albany, -where the council was being held. 

^ In one of the road surveys, for the town of Queensbury for 1820, the north 
boundary of the Kayaderosseras patent is made the line of a newly relayed road. — 
Town records, p. 310. 

" " On the 15th of Jan'y, 1793, the legislature of this state appointed a commis- 
sion consisting of Egbert Bensen and Peter Curtenius of Dutchess, Samuel Jones 
of New York, Jesse Woodhull of Orange and Cornelius C. Schoonmaker of Ulster 
counties, to ascertain and settle the boundaries of the patent of Kayaderosseras 
and Half Moon. 



356 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

" We the undermentioned subscribers do hereby certify that we, being 
associates in a certain purchase made from the Indians of the Mohuwk 
Castle by John Grlen jr., Philip Van Petten, Simon Schermerhorn, for all 
the vacant lands lying between Sacondago, Kayaderosseras and the river 
to the third falls, i we hereby allow and agree, that John Glen jr. (a), is to 
have that part lying near the third falls on Hudson's river containing 
about fifteen hundred acres, we hereby allow, and agree wtth the said 
John Grlen jr., that he may take out a special patent for the said tract 
of land.- 

Seymen Schermerhorn, Philip V. Van Petten, 

Cornelius Cuyler, Johannis Schermerhorn, 

John Cuyler jr., Ryckart Vanfranken, 

Cornelius Glen, John Roseboom, 

Henry Glen, Chris. Yates, for myself and Jellis 

Abrm. C. Cuyler, Fonda, 

Seymon Job's Veeder, Harms. H. Wendell, 

Deryk V. franken, Aaron Van Petten." 

Reyier Schermerhorn, 

This petition was endorsed as having been granted on the 
request of Peter Remsen, in his own behalf and for Simon and 
Peter A. Remsen, and was succeeded by the following applica- 
tion : 

" To the Honorable Cadwallader Colden, Esq., lieutenant governor, and 
commander in chief in and over the province of New York, etc., etc., etc. 
In council. Humbly showeth That your Petitioner and associates have made 
a purchase of all the vacant lands lying between the patents of Kaya- 
derosseras, Sacondago, and Hudson's river to the third falls on said river, 
your petitioners therefore Humbly Pray your Excellency will be pleased 



' Baker's falls on the Hudson river. A long and costly law suit in the early 
part of the century, hinged upon the question whether the third fall on the Hudson 
river applied to Baker's falls or the falls at Fort Miller. The question was ulti- 
mately decided to apply to the former, an opinion abundantly corroborated by all 
the earlier maps and surveys. 

' This tract had been petitioned for by John Glen and others as early as May 6th 
1761, thus taking i^recedence in priority of the Queensbury patent. — Vide 
Calendar of N. T. Land Papers, p. 303. 

{a) Tlio original immigrant to this country bearing this name was Sander Leen - 
dcrtso Glen, who " was a servant of the West India Company at Fort Nassau, in 
1633 ; received a grant of land there in 1651 ; also received a patent for a lot in 
Smit's Valey, New Amsterdam, in 1646, which he sold in 1660 ; was then called 
Coopman, of Beverwyck. In 1665, he obtained a patent for lands in Schenectady, 
which land, he called Nova Scotia, and became his permanent residence. He 
owned real estate in divers parts of Albany, and was a considerable trader with 



THE GLEN PATENT. 357 

to grant them a Patent for a small part thereof. Beginning at the third 
falls on Hudson's river, and so up the river till it joyns the line of Kaya- 
derosseras Patent and so along the line thereof to the third falls aforesaid, 
being the place of beginning, together with all the Islands in the said 
river opposite. And your Petitioners shall ever pray.i 

John Glen Jr. 

Henry Glen. 



The Bnruham family of this village have, in their possession, 
a lease engrossed on parchment, in which, on the 5th of Feb., 
1772, John Glen conveys to Christopher Yates, the use for one 

the Indians. His wife was Catalyn Doncassen or Dongan," by whom he had three 
sons, Jacob ; Sander ; and Johannes. He died 13th Nov., 1685.' 

Capt. Johannes, son of the above, was born 5th Nov., 1648. He " settled in 
Schenectady; married firstly, Annatie, daughter of Jan Peek, May 2d, 1667. She 
died 19th December, 1690. He married secondly Diwer, daughter of Evert Janse 
Wendel, and widow of Myndert Wemp, June 21, 1691, in Albany. She died 
April 10, 1724; lie died Nov. 6th, 1731. He built the present Sanders mansion 
in Scotia, in 1713, and occupied the same until his death. His property was spared 
when Schenectady was burned, by order of the governor of Canada, for kindness 
shown to French prisoners captured by the Mohawks." ^ 

Col. Johannes Glen, after whom our village was named, was the son of Jacob 
wbo was the son of Johannes jr., who was the son of Jacob, the eldest son of the 
original immigrant, and brother of Capt. Johannes Glen of Schenectady. Accord- 
ing to Prof. Pearson's record,'' he was born 2d of July, 1735, and baptized in Albany 
where his father lived and died. His mother's maiden name was Elizabeth 
Cuyler. He " was quartermaster in the French and Revolutionary wars, stationed 
at Schenectady ; in 1775 bought lands on the Hudson, above Fort Edward, of 
Daniel Parke, which tract was afterwards called Glen's Falls. He built and 
occupied the house now owned by Mr. Swortfiguer, in Washington street, (Sche- 
nectady). He married Catharina, daughter of Simon Johaunese Veeder. She 
died October 22d, 1799, aged 57 years, 9 months, 26 days, he died at Schenectady, 
Sept. 23, 1828, aged 93 years. They had seven children, the oldest of whom was 
Jacob, who was baptized Jan. 25th, 1761. Of him the same record* states that 
" in 1795, he was in business at, and owned the Glen's Falls ; removed to Chambly, 
Canada, as early as 1806, where he died Nov. 27th, 1843, aged 82 years, 10 months 
and 4 days. He married Frances Stenhouse, and had three children. Prof. Pear- 
son, already largely quoted, adds in a communication to the author, that the 
colonel, towards the close of his life, became poor and was supported by kind 
friends in no way connected with the family. 

His financial embarrassments are conjectured to have resulted from his connec- 
tion with public affairs, and the consequent neglect of his private interests. 

This and the preceding document, through the courtesy of the Hon. Diedrich 
Willers, secretary of state, I have been permitted to copy from the originals in the 
State Archives. 



1 From First Settlem of Albany County, by Professor Jonathan Pearson, p. 53. 
"^ Genealogies of the First Settlers of Schenectady, by Jonathan Pearson, p. 76. 
' Genealogies of the First Settlers of Schenectady, p. 77. 
' Ibid, p. 78. 



358 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

year of part of two islands iu the Hudson river and a tract of 
laud on the west side of Hudson's river, the same beiug a part, 
as the instrument states, of a patent granted to John Glen and 
Henry Glen. The islands referred to, are those lying near the 
eastern boundary of the town of Queensbury, and elsewhere 
referred to, as owned first, by the Jessups, and afterwards by 
Daniel Jones. 

More space is here devoted to the consideration of the Glen 
tract than would otherwise be given it, from the fact that the 
name of Glen's Falls is derived from one of the patentees, 
the circumstances connected with which have been presented 
to the pubhc in such distorted shape, as to require a new and 
thorough explanation. 

According to a tradition of the Parke family, whose descend- 
ants still reside in our neighborhood, a portion of the Glen 
estate, embracing the extensive water power at South Glen's 
Falls, was purchased of Elijah Parke ^ the original settler iu that 
neighborhood.^ After the revolutionary war Glen rebuilt the 
mills, destroyed during that struggle, manufactured lumber to 
some extent, and spent some weeks every summer season with 
his horses and colored servants, at a cottage originally built by 

' Some confusion lias arisen by reason of the different modes of orthography 
followed in spelling this family name. The family claims aifinity with the Parke 
family of Virginia so nearly allied to the Curtis and Washington families. The 
autograph of Daniel Parke shows that he also followed this spelling. 

* According to the Parke family legend, a grant of this valuable tract was ob 
tained shortly prior to the revolution. This title was procured by Elijah Parke, 
the father of Daniel Parke, mentioned in a subsequent chapter, who, in 1773, made 
a clearing, commenced a settlement, and erected the first mills at this point. 

By permission some years since, I copied the following inscription from the 
fly-leaf of the Parks family Bible, which affords some support to the foregoing 
statement : 

" I, S. Parks and Susannah my wife was married in 1789, May. I was 34 years 
old March 5, 1789. I was born in the town of Half-Moon now in the village of 
Waterford, when I was 2 months old my father moved his family to the town of 
Sharon iu the St. of Connecticut. We lived there until 1773 and May the 10 and 
then my father moved his family to what was then called Wing's falls and now 
called Glen's falls and there built the first mills that was ever built there. And 
we suffered a great deal in that struggle for liberty we lost our lives and property 
and became poor and weak. 

I S. PARKS." 

This statement in relation to the purchase by Glen from Parke, is corroborated 
by Prof. Jonatiian Pearson of Union College, who, in a communication to the 
author, states that his authority is in a conveyance to be found in vol. x, p. 199, 
Book of deeds, Albany county, clerk's office. The title however seems to have 
been iu Daniel Parke, Elijah's sou. 



PARKE FAMILY TRADITION. 359 

f ■ ■. 

one of the Parke family, and which stood on the hill overlooking 
the site now covered by the paper mill. Here, if tradition be 
of any worth, he maintained a state and style of opulence and 
splendor, superior to any in all the vicinity. It was during one 
of these visitations, that in a convivial moment, it was proposed 
by him to pay the expenses of a wine supper for the entertain- 
ment of a party of mutual friends if Mr. Wing would consent 
to transfer his claim and title to the name of the falls. Whether 
the old quaker pioneer thought the project visionary, and imprac- 
ticable, or whatever motive may have actuated him, assent was 
given, the symposium was held, and the name of Glen's Falls 
was inaugurated.^ 

Mr. Glen hastened to Schenectady, and ordered some hand 
bills printed, announcing the change of name. These were 
posted in all the taverns, along the highway, and bridle paths 
from Queensbury to Albany, and the change of name was 
effected, with a promptitude that must have been bewildering 
to the easy going farmers of the town in those days. The fol- 
lowing letter; written in elegant running hand, and still exist- 
ing among the Wing MSS., is believed to determine the date 
of this enterprise. 

" Mr. Grlen's compliments to Mr. Wing, and requests the favor of him 
to send the advertisement accompanying this by the first conveyance to his 
friends at Quaker Hill. 

" Mr. Glen hopes Mr. and Mrs. Wing and the family are all well. 
Glen's falls, April 29th, 1788." 

Superscribed " Mr. Wing, Queensbury." 

After various preliminarj' applications, dating from Jany., 
1760 ; and originally asking for a grant of a township six by 
eight miles in extent, on the thirty-first day of March, 1762, 
Daniel Prindle, Elihu Marsh, Thomas Hungerford, Samuel 

' Of Col. Glen's kind heart and genial disposition, something of a glimpse may 
be caught from the following extract : 

" 27th, Dec, 1780. 

" I alighted at Colonel Glen's, (in Schenectady), the quarter master general of 
this d?strict, a lively, active man. He received me in the politest manner ; an 
excellent fire, and two or three glasses of toddy, warmed me, so as to enable me 
to ask him some questions, and to return immediately, for night was coming on, 
and the Vicomte de Noailles expected me at dinner at five o'clcck. Colonel Glen 
lent me horses to return to Albany, and was so good as to conduct me himself into 
the Indian village." — Chastellux's Travels in North America, Eng. translation, 
vol. I, p. 401. 



360 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

Huugerford, John Buck, Daniel Tryon, Amos Leach, Benja- 
min Seel3^e, Anthony Wanser, Jonathan Weeks, John Page, 
Elihu Marsh, junior, Abraham Wanzer, Benjamin Elliot, John 
Seeley, Aaron Prindle, Thomas Northorp, Ezekial Pain, Jede- 
diah Graves, David Commins, Ebenezer Preston, David Preston 
and Joshua Agard, twenty-three petitioners in all, agreeably to 
the instructions of his majesty, who to prevent monopoly of the 
then wild land of the province, had restricted individual grants 
of land, to one thousand acres to each bona fide grantee, applied 
to the provincial council of ISTew York, presided over by the 
Hon. Cadwallader Golden, lieutenant governor of the province, 
(and then acting governor in the place of Moncktou who had 
returned to England) for a grant of twenty-three thousand acres 
of land lying on the Hudson river, west of lands then recently 
surveyed for James Bradshaw ^ and others, called Bradshaw's 
township, and named in the patent the township of Kingsbury. 
These twenty-three thousand acres embraced a territory of six 
miles square, and in the original survey of the township, due 
allowance was made for sundry ponds of water contained 
therein, as also for highways to be constructed and a due re- 
gard to the profitable and unprofitable acres " so that the actual 
area of the township probably contained over thirty thousand 
acres. The application having been favorably received, the 
patent was duly granted on the 2yth day of May following, it 
being in the second j^ear of the reign of King George the third, 
and was named Queensbury in honor of his then lately wedded 
consort.^ This grant was at the time of its issue included in 
the limits of the county of Albany, whose undefined boundaries 
then included all the northern part of this state and nearly all 
the western part of the state of Vermont. This grant was made 
subject to all the royal quitrent provisoes, as also the annual 
payment of two shillings and six pence sterling for every hundred 
acres therein. It reserved to the crown, all mines of gold and 
silver, and also all white or other pine trees fit for masts, of the 
growth of 24 inches diameter and upwards at 12 inches from 
the earth. It is very doubtful whether the crown ever profited 
by these reservations, although the entire township was covered 
with a heavy growth of timber, the principal part of which was 

' James Bradshaw was a resident of New Milford, Litchfield co., Conn., which 
place was also the home of the greater portion of the applicants for the Queens- 
bury patent, and contiguous to Quaker Hill, Beekman precinct, and the Oblong, 
from whence most of the early settlers of Queensbury emigrated. 



QUEENSBURY PATENT. 361 

first growth of yellow pine of magnificent dimensions, from 
which was manufactured in the early days of the town, lumber 
of a very superior quality. Among the conditions of the patent 
was the stipulation for the erection of the town into a body po- 
litic, providing for the annual election by the inhabitants of one 
supervisor, two assessors, one treasurer, two overseers of the 
highways, two overseers of the poor, one collector and four con- 
stables, the election to take place on the first Tuesday in May, 
at the most public place in the town, which was forever there- 
after to be the place for such elections. The patent also was to 
be vacated, in case three acres for every thousand acres so 
granted should not be planted or placed under cultivation, 
within three years from the termination of the war then pend- 
ing between France and England. The face of the town at 
that time presented an undulating surface of wilderness, but 
slightly broken by the numerous streams and ponds within its 
circuit, whose volume has been greatly diminished by the clear- 
ing up of the forests and swamps from whence they derived 
their supplies. 

Three small clearings at the three picket forts previously 
named, barely served to break the monotony of the old military 
road which led from near the intersection of Glen and Warren 
streets, in an almost direct line to the lot well known in the 
early part of'the century as the Mallory place. The banks 
of the river, fringed with forest verdure, the island, the falls, 
then appeared in their native and undisturbed grandeur. The 
site of the village was broken by three deep gullies, or ravines, 
stretching for some distance from, and running at right angles 
with the river. One of these ravines now forms the principal 
sewer of the village, running down past the steam furnace of 
Messrs. Dix and Knox, and in that early day opening upon the 
river precisely at the 'point occupied by the Glen's Falls Com- 
pany's Grist Mill. In the upper part of this ravine, John A. 
Ferriss constructed a fish pond of considerable size, which in 
1802 was well stocked with trout, and was then considered one 
of the ornaments of the place. The second ravine may to this 
day be distinctly traced commencing at Cross street and running 
parallel with Elm, crossing Park street, reissuing through the 
old Berry estate, and finding its outlet in the river just at the 
head of the falls. At a later period Judge Hay built a fish pond 
in this ravine, and Mr. Cushing erected a diminutive water 

46 



362 HISTORY OF THE TO'WN OF QUEENSBURY. 

power in couEection with the old red market, on the old 
Spencer place, now the residence of S. L. Goodman. The 
third followed the course of Basin street, and after effecting a 
junction with two small rivulets at the basin, opened on the 
river nearly opposite the steam saw mill. Each of these ravines 
were in those primeval days the channels of rivulets, which, fed 
by springs, and supplied by the wash and drainage of the ad- 
jacent table lands, lent their constant supply to feed the waters 
of the Hudson. 

It will be borne in mind that the patent was granted May 
20, 1762, and yet by a record of a proprietor's meeting held on 
the 18th of June, less than a month following, it appears that 
the ownership of the patent had almost entirely changed hands, 
only four of the original patentees being retained among the 
proprietors. This rapid transfer of so large, and apparently 
important a grant, gave it the appearance of a prearranged 
bargain and sale, in which influential men of the colony had 
lent their names to obtain the grant for the benefit of those who 
proposed becoming actual settlers. At the meeting above men- 
tioned, a vote was passed by the proprietors authorizing Abraham 
Wing to keep and preserve the certificate and patent for the 
township for the benefit of the proprietors. These are now in 
the possession of one of the descendants of the late Mr. Ashahel 
"Wing, formerly cashier of the Fort Edward National Bank. 

At another meeting of the proprietors, held at the shop of 
Nehemiah and Daniel Merritt, on the Oblong, ^ in Dutchess 
county, on the 10th of July following, a vote was passed that 
the town lots in said township be drawn by lot on the 24th 
inst., at the same place, that Daniel Case and Thomas Aiken 



* The following spirited description of the Oblong by the Marquis de Chastellux 
at the close of the Revolutionary war, will hardly fail to be of interest to the 
descendants of those who first came from that place to settle this town. 

" At the distance of a mile we again jiass the same river (the Housatonic) on a 
wooden bridge ; we soon meet with another, called Ten mile river, which falls 
into this, and which we follow for two or three miles, and then came in sight of 
several handsome houses, forming a part of the district called The Oblong. 
It is a long, narrow slip of land, ceded by Connecticut to the state of New York, 
in exchange for some other territory. The inn I was going to, is in the Oblong, 
but two miles further on. It is kept by Colonel Moorhouse ; for nothing is more 
common in America than to see an innkeeper a colonel. They are in general 
militia colonels, chosen by the militia themselves, who seldom fail to entrust the 
command to the most esteemed, and most creditable citizens." — Trans. Chas- 
tellux's Travels in America, vol. i, p. 57. 



QUEENSBURY PATENT. 363 

should perform the drawing, and that John Gurney should make 
the proper record of such distributions. 

The survey for the division into lots, wsis commenced on 29th 
of August, 1762, by Zaccheus Towner, of " New Fairfield, 
Connecticut, surveyor for the proprietors," and the survey was 
completed before the following November. 

In this survey of the township, the village was located at the 
Half-way brook, at the crossing of the military road, probably 
because of the few buildings, and clearing already made at that 
point. The town plot at this point was run out into forty-four 
ten acre lots, six lots deep from north to south and eight lots 
deep from east to west, forming an oblong square, intersected 
through the centre in each direction with a highway eight rods 
wide, and two four rod roads between the tiers of lots to the 
east, and west of the main road, the whole plot to be surrounded 
by a four rod road. The centre lots were reserved for public 
buildings. The balance of the township was run out into one 
hundred and one two hundred and fifty acre lots as nearly as 
possible. At the drawing, above mentioned, Abraham Wing 
was so fortunate as to draw three of what would now be con- 
sidered the most valuable lots in town, namely, lots Nos. 29, 
36 and 37, on which the greater part of the more densely settled 
portion of the village of Glen's Falls now stands. 

On the 8th of November, of the same year, another meeting 
of the proprietors (at that time increased to thirty), was held at 
the place before mentioned, when deeds of partition, agreeably 
to the drawing spoken of, were duly executed each to the other. 
At this meeting it was also voted that Daniel Chase and "William 
Haight be appointed to draw lots for the balance of the survey 
not appropriated in the first division. In this second partition, 
several of the great lots were subdivided by lines drawn from 
east to west, and renumbered. On the 23d of February the 
ensuing year the proprietors met at the building before men- 
tioned, in Beekman precinct, Dutchess co., and appointed Wm. 
Smith, Nehemiah Merritt and Abraham Wing, trustees, to par- 
tition out the hitherto undivided lands. 

The following document, copied verbatim from the original 
patent, was written upon two large sheets of parchment in the 
old English character, and engrossed with great precision and 
elegance. It is the property now of the family of Richard Wing, 
deceased, to whom it has descended as an heir-loom, it having 



364 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

beeu confided to the keeping of his grandfather, Abraham Wing, 
by the original grantees, and remained in the possession of the 
family ever since. 



Coj>y of the original 2Mient of the town of Queensbury. 

Compared and corrected with the copy on file in the secretary of state's office at 

Albany.' 

GEORGE the Third, by the Grace of God of Great Britain, France 
and Ireland King, defender of the faith and so forth. To all to whom 
these presents shall come Greeting. WHEREAS our loving subjects 
Daniel Prindle, Elihu Marsh, Thomas Hungerford, Samuel Hungerford, 
John Buck, Daniel Tryon, Amos Leach, Benjamin Seeley, Anthony Wan- 
ser, Jonathan Weeks, John Page, Elihu Marsh, Junior, Abraham Wanzer, 
Benjamin Elliot, John Seeley, Aaron Prindle, Thomas Northorp, Ezekiel 
Pain, Jedediah Graves, David Preston, and Joshua Agard, did by their 
humble petition presented unto our trusty and well beloved Cadwallader 
Golden p]squire, our Lieutenant Governor and Commander-in-chief of our 
Province of New York and the territories thereon depending, in America 
in council on the thirty-first day of March now last past humbly pray our 
Letters Patent granting to each of the said Petitioners respectively and 
to their respective heirs, the (quantity of One Thousand Acres of a certain 
Tract of Land in the said Province vested in the Crown that had been 
surveyed and laid out for the said Daniel Prindle and his associates above 
named of the contents of six miles square adjoining to the lands intended 
to be granted to James Bradshaw and others between Fort Edward and 
Lake George under the Quit Rent provisoes, Limitations and restrictions 
directed and prescribed by Our Rpyal instructions together with the like 
privileges of a Township (as were lately granted to Isaac Sawyer and others) 
by the name of Queensbury Township. WHICH PETITION having been 
then and there read and considered of our said council did afterwards on 
the fifteenth day of April now last past humbly advise our said Lieutenant 
Governor and Commander-in-Cbief to grant the prayer thereof. W H ERE- 
FORE in obedience to our said Royal Instructions our commissioned 
appointed for the setting out all lands to be granted within our said 
province have set out for the petitioners above named, ALL that certain 
Tract or Parcel of Land situate lying and being in the county of Albany 
on the north side of Hudson's river between Ft. Edward and Lake George 
BEGINNING at the north-west corner of a certain Tract of land surveyed 
for James Bradshaw and his associates and runs from the said north-west 
corner, north twenty-seven chains, then west five hundred and thirty- five 

' For this and other courtesies the author begs to make liis acknowledgements 
to the Hon. Diedricli Willers, secretary of state. 



QUEENSBURY PATENT. 365 

chains, then south five hundred and thirty-six chains to Hudson's river, 
then down the stream of said River as it runs to the west Bounds of the 
said Tract surveyed for James Bradshaw and his associates, then along 
the said West Bounds North to the place where this tract first began con- 
taining after deducting for sundry ponds of water lying within the above 
mentioned Bounds Twenty-three thousand acres of land and the usual al- 
lowances for Highways. AND in setting out the said Tract of Land the 
said commissioners have had regard to the profitable and unprofitable acres, 
and have taken care that the length thereof doth not extend along the 
Banks of any River otherwise than is conformable to our said Royal In- 
structions for that purpose as by a certificate thereof under their hand- 
bearing Date the Tweijty-first Day of April now last past and entered on 
Record in our Secretary's Ofiice in our City of New York may more fully 
appear. Which said Tract of Land set out as aforesaid, according to our 
said Royal Instructions. We being willing to grant to the said petitioners 
their heirs and assigns forever, with the several privileges and powers 
hereinafter mentioned. Know Ye that of our especial grace certain know- 
ledge and meer motion We have given granted ratified and confirmed and 
DO by these presents for us our Heirs and successors give grant retify and 
confirm unto them the said Daniel Prindle, Elihu Marsh, Thomas Hun- 
gerford, Samuel Hungerford, John Buck, Daniel Tryon, Amos Leach, 
Benjamin Seeley, Anthony Wanser, Jonathan Weeks, John Page, Elihu 
Marsh junior, Abraham Wanser, Benjamin Elliot, John Seeley, Aaron 
Prindle, Thomas Northorp, Ezekiel Pain, Jedediah Graves, David Cum- 
mins, Ebenezer Preston, Daniel Preston and Joshua Agard their Heirs 
and Assignees for ever ALL THAT the aforesaid Tract or parcel of Land 
set out abutted bounded and described in Manner and Form as above 
mentioned together with all and singular the Tenements, Hereditaments 
Emoluments and Appurtenances thereunto belonging or appertaining, and 
also all our Estate, Right, Title, Interest, Possession, Claim and Demand 
Whatsoever of in and to the same Lands and Premises and every part and 
parcel thereof and the Reversion and Reversions Remainder and Re- 
mainders, Rents, Issues and profits thereof and of every part and parcel 
thereof, EXCEPT and always reserved out of this our present GRANT 
unto us our Heirs and Successors for ever all mines of Gold and Silver 
and also all White and other sorts of Pine Trees fit for masts of the Growth 
of Twenty-four Inches Diameter and upwards at twelve Inches from the 
Earth, for Masts for the Royal Navy of us our Heirs and Successors TO 
HAVE AND TO HOLD one full and equal Three and Twentieth part 
(the whole into Twenty-three equal parts to be devided) of the said Tract 
or parcel of Land, Tenements. Hereditaments and Premises by these Pre- 
sents granted, ratified and confirmed, and every part and parcel thereof 
with their and every of their appurtenances, (except as is herein before 
excepted) unto each of them our Grantees above mentioned their Heirs 
and Assignees respectively. TO their only proper and separate use and 



366 HISTORY OP THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

Behoof respectively for ever as Tenants in common and not as joint Tenants. 
TO BE HOLDEN of us, and Heirs and Successors in fee and common 
socage as of our Manor of East Grreenwich in our County of Kent within 
our Kingdom of Great Britain, YIELDING-, rendering, and paying there- 
fore yearly and every year forever unto us our Heirs and Successors at 
our Custom House in our City of New York, unto our or their Collector 
or Receiver General therefore the time being on the Feast of the Annun- 
ciation of the blessed Virgin Mary commonly called Lady day the yearly 
rent of two shillings and sis pence Sterling for each and every Hundred 
Acres of the above granted lands and so in proportion for any less in 
quantity thereof saving and except for such part of the said Lands allowed 
for Highways as above mentioned in Lieu and stead of all other Rents, 
Services, Dues. Duties, and Demands whatsoever for the hereby granted 
Land and Premises, or any part thereof AND WE DO of our especial 
Grace certain knowledge and meer motion, create, erect and constitute the 
said Tract or parcel of Land hereby granted and every part and parcel 
thereof a Township for ever hereafter to be, continue, and remain and by 
the name of Queensbury Townships for ever hereafter to be called and 
known AND for the better and more easily carrying on and managing the 
public affairs and Business of the said Township our Royal will and plea- 
sure is and we do hereby for us our Heirs and Successors give and grant 
to the inhabitants of the said Township all the Powers, Authority, Privi- 
leges and Advantages heretofore given and granted to or legally enjoyed 
by all, any or either our other Township within our said Province AND 
we also ordain and establish that there shall be forever hereafter in the 
said Township One Supervisor, Two Assessors, One Treasurer, Two Over- 
seers of the Highways, Two Overseers of the Poor, One Collector and 
four Constables elected and chosen out of the Inhabitants of the said Town- 
ship yearly and every year on the first Tuesday in May at the most pub- 
lick place in the said Township, by the majority of Freeholders thereof. 

[End of contents of first piece of parchment.] 

" THEN and there met and assembled for that purpose, hereby de- 
claring that wheresoever the first Election in the said Township shall be 
held the future Elections shall forever thereafter be held in the same place 
as near as may be, and giving and Granting unto the said officers so chosen, 
power and authority to exercise their said several and respective offices, 
during one whole year from such election, and until others are legally 
chosen and elected in their room and stead, as fully and amply as any the 
like officers have or legally may use or exercise their offices in our said 
Province. AND in case any or either of the said officers of the said 
Township should die or remove from the said Township before the Time 
of their Annual service shall be expired or refuse to act in the Offices for 
which they shall respectively be choseu, then our Royal Will and pleasure 
further is and we do hereby direct ordain and require the Freeholders of 
the said Township to meet at the place where the annual election shall be 



QEEENSBURY PATENT. 367 

held for the said Township and chuse other or others of the said Inhabi- 
tants of the said Township in the place or stead of him or them so dying 
removing or refusing to act within Forty days next after such contingency. 
AND to prevent any undue election in this case, We do hereby ordain 
and require, That upon every vacancy in the office of Supervisor, the 
Assessors, and in either of the other offices, the Supervisor of the said 
Township shall within ten days next after any such vacancy first happens 
appoint the Day for such Election and give public Notice thereof in Wri- 
ting under his or their Hands by affixing such Notice on the Church 
Door, or other most public place in the said Township, at the least Ten 
days before the Day appointed for such Election, and in Default thereof 
we do hereby require the Officer or Officers of the said Township or the 
Survivor of them, who in the order they are hereinbefore mentioned shall 
next succeed him or them so making Default, within ten days next after 
such default to appoint the day for such election, and give notice thereof 
as aforesaid, HEREBY Giving and Granting that such person or persons 
as shall be so chosen by the majority of such of the Freeholders of the said 
Township as shall meet in manner hereby directed, shall have, hold, ex- 
ercise and enjoy the Office or Offices, to which he or they shall be so 
elected and chosen from the Time of such Election, until the first Tuesday 
in May then next following, and until other or others be legally chosen in 
his or their place and stead as fully as the person or persons in whose 
place he or they shall be chosen might or could have done by virtue of 
these presents. AND WE do hereby will and direct that this method 
shall for ever hereafter, be used for the filling up all vacancies that shall 
happen in any or either of the said Offices between the annual Elections 
above directed, PROVIDED always and upon condition nevertheless that 
if our said Grantees, their heirs or assigns or some or one of them shall 
not within three years next after the conclusion of our present war with 
France settle on the said Tract of Land hereby granted so many families 
as shall amount to one Family for every thousand acres thereof OR if they 
our said Grantees, or one of them, their or one of their heirs, or assigns 
shall not also within three years to be computed as aforesaid plant and 
efi"ectually cultivate at the least three acres for every fifty acres of such of 
the hereby granted Lands as are capable of cultivation, OR if they our 
said Grantees or any of them or any of their heirs or assigns, or any other 
person or persons by their or any of their previty consent or procurement, 
shall fell, cut down or otherwise destroy any of the Pine Trees by these 
Presents reserved to us our heirs and successors or hereby intended so to 
be, without the Royal license of us, our heirs or successors for so doing 
first had and obtained, that then and in any of these cases this our present 
Grant and every Thing therein contained shall cease and be absolutely 
void, and the Lands and Premises hereby granted shall revert to and vest 
in us, our heirs and successors, as if this our present Grant had not been 
made, anything hereinbefore contained to the contrary thereof in any wise 



368 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

notwithstanding PROVIDED further and upon condition also nevertheless, 
and we do hereby for us, our heirs and successors direct and appoint that 
this our present Grant shall be registered and entered on Record within 
six months from the date thereof in our Secretary's Office in our City of 
New York in our said Province in one of the Books of Patents there re- 
maining and that a Docquet thereof shall be also entered in our Auditor's 
Office there for our said Province and that in default thereof this our 
present Grant shall be void and of none effect any Thing before in these 
Presents contained to the contrary thereof in any wise notwithstanding. 
AND WE DO moreover of our Grace certain knowledge and meer motion 
consent and agree that this our present Grant being registered, recorded 
and a Docquet thereof made as before directed and appointed shall be good 
and effectual in the Law to all Intents, Constructions and Purposes what- 
soever against us, our heirs and Successors notwithstanding any Misreci- 
ting, Misbounding, Misnaming or other Imperfection or Omission of, in, 
or in any wise concerning the above granted or hereby mentioned or in- 
tended to be granted Lands, Tenements, hereditaments and premises or 
any part thereof. IN TESTIMONY whereof we have caused these our 
Letters to be made patent and the Great Seal of our said Province to be 
hereunto affixed. WITNESS our said trusty and well beloved Cadwallader 
Golden, Esquire, our Lieutenant Governor and Commander in Chief of 
our Province of New- York and the Territories depending thereon in Ame- 
rica. At our Fort in our City of New- York the Twentieth day of May in 
the year of our Lord One Thousand Seven hundred and Sixty-two and of 
our Reign the second. (First Skin Line 31 the word of interlined line 
47 the words any or wrote on an erazure and Line 49 the word the inter- 
lined.)" " CLARKE." 1 

Endorsements on the back of the Parchment Skin No. 1 : 
" Secretary's Office 25th May, 1762, The Within Letters Patent are Re- 
corded in Lib Patents No. 13, Pages 478 to 483." 

" Geo. Banyar D Sec'y" 

" New York Auditor Generals Office 1st June, 1762. The within Letters 
Patent to Daniel Prindle and others are Docqueted in this office." 

" Geo Banyar Dept Auditor " 

Endorsement on the back of parchment skin No. 2. 

Letters Patent. " 20th May, 1762. 

" To Daniel Prindle, and others for 28000 acres of land in the county 
of Albany." 

Attached to these parchments, was the great seal of the pro- 
vince, a fac-simile of which may be found in the fourth vol. of 
the Doc'y Hist, of N. Y. 



' One of the members of tlic council. 



PIONEER PROGRESS. 369 




CHAPTER Vn. 

Picket Posts and Block Houses of Queensbury and Fort Ed- 
ward — Proclamation of Gov. DeLancey — Jeffrey Cowper set- 
tled AT THE Half-way Brook — Visit of Abraham Wing and 
Survey of the Queensbury Patent — First Settlement in 
Queensbury and Erection op Mills — First Child in Queensbury 
BORN — Location of the First Dwellings — First Town Meeting. 

^HE shouts and turmoil of sanguinary strife had scarcely 
ceased, before the busy axe of the pioneer was heard 
resoundiug through these storied plains, and in less 
than ten years from the close of the war, the entire 
forest border was alive with the industries of the hardy Saxon 
race, hewing ia pathway to freedom for the oppressed nationali- 
ties of the old world. 

In 1760, the year following the events just narrated in the 
preceding chapter, John Goffe in charge of 800 ISTew Hamp- 
shire levies, cut a road direct through the wilderness from 
Charlestown, No. 4, in N'ew Hampshire, to Crown Point, at 
which place he joined Col. Haviland, in the expedition against 
Montreal.^ The eastern borders of the state, and the debatable 
ground known as the Hampshire grants, were already echoing 
to the strokes of the woodman's axe, and resounding with the 
hum of toil, and the restless energy of Saxon and Celtic adven- 
turers. And in advance of patentee, or land owner, the woods 
and trails of Queensbury were scoured by huntsmen and trap- 
pers, and disbanded soldiers prospecting among the often trod 
battle fields, for eligible sites whereon to locate military claims 
and soldiers' rights. 

Reference has been made to the three picket forts erected 
within the limits of the township, during the progress of the 
French war. These were surrounded by considerable clear- 
ings, thus affording more than ordinary inducements to the 
hardy borderers and pioneers to begin settlements in what was 
then a nearly unbroken forest, where the savages and the wild 

' WilsorCs Orderly hook, MunseU's Hist, series, p. 58, note. 
47 



370 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

beast held paramount and nndivided sway. North of Albany, 
the only settlements existing at this time, were the small ham- 
let at Fort Edward, and the still smaller outpost at Stillwater. 

In a letter to the author in 1851, the late Mr. Timothy Eddy 
of Fort Edward, then one of the oldest residents there, made 
the following statement : 

" There were originally six or eight block houses built in a 
circular direction on the heights around the fort, perhaps at 
nearly the same period of its erection. One of the most im- 
portant of these, was on the hill directly above the lock. One 
was situated about twenty rods east of the Methodist church, 
one Qu the south side of the creek half a mile from the fort, 
and one on the west side of the river on the point of the hill 
above where the (old) bridge was built,^ and one on each side 
of the river at the ferry." 

These, with the homes of the few early settlers there, must 
then have formed the most considerable settlement between 
Albany and Montreal. 

The old fort at Saratoga, which had been destroyed by the 
French and Indians in 1747, had never been rebuilt. The tide 
of immigration which, a couple of years later, commenced tilling 
the wilderness borders of Albany county, with the bustle and 
thrift of Anglo-Saxon life, had not, as yet, commenced its flow. 

The following proclamation by Lieut. Gov. DeLancey was 
made, in view of the need, long felt, of having a hardy popula- 
tion on the northern frontier, as a protection and bulwark 
against the incursions of the savages, which had hitherto been 
not only fearfully frequent, but had held in check, for nearly 
half a century, the march and progress of civilization. 

From the Doc'y History of New York, vol. it, p. 556. 
By the Honorable James DeLancey Esq., His Majesty's Lieutenant Gov- 



[L.S.] 



ernor and Commander-in-chief in and over the province of New 
York and the territories depending thereon in America. 



A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas from the Success of His Majesty's Arms, in the Reduction of 
the important Fortresses at Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and the very 
Strong Works erecting at the latter, the whole Country along Hudson's 



' This is called the Royal block house, in a collection of plans elsewhere referred 
to in this work, and to be found in the military pocket book in the state library 
at Albany, in which a full detail and sketch is given of this fortification. 



A PROCLAMATION. 371 

River down to Albany, will for the future be so effectually covered and 
secured from the Ravages of the Enemy, that the Inhabitants may return 
to their Settlements and abide there with safety to their Persons Families 
and Estates ; in confidence of which, many have already returned to their 
Habitations. And whereas the Fortress now erecting at Crown Point is 
in great forwardness, and His Excellency Major General Amherst hath 
assured me, that he is determined it shall be so far finished before the 
Troops go into Winter Quarters, as to answer the Purpose of covering and 
protecting the Country and as an encouragement to Settlers, he has de- 
sired I would make known, that those who with the leave of this Govern- 
ment shall now choose to go and settle between Lake George and Fort 
Edward, will there find, three Several Spots of cleared Ground, two of 
them capable of containing half a dozen Families each, and the other not 
less than twelve ; on which shall be left standing for their Convenience the 
Wooden Hutts and Coverings of the Troops that have been posted there 
since the Beginning of the Campaign, which from the footing we have 
now at Crown Point, will be no longer necessary, and will be evacuated 
and left for the use of those who shall become Settlers. The first of the 
said Spotts is situated four miles above Fort Edward ; The Second at the 
Half way Brook ; and the other three miles from Lake George. The Soil 
good and capable of Improvement, and all three well watered. The Balf- 
way Brook being the Spott sufficient for a dozen Families. I have there- 
fore thought fit by and with the Advice of His Majesty's Council to issue 
this Proclamation, Hereby inviting the Inhabitants who formerly aban- 
doned their Dwellings to return to their Settlements, and improve the ad- 
vantages offered to them under the Protection and Cover of the important 
Posts and Strong Fortresses above mentioned. And as an inducement to 
such as shall be inclined to settle on any or either of the three Spotts of 
Ground above described : I do hereby promise his Majesty's Grant there- 
of to any Persons who shall apply for the same, on condition of immediate 
settlement thereof in the form of a Township with a sufficient quantity of 
Woodland adjoining for that purpose ; and that I will use my Endeavors 
to obtain for the Grantees an Exemption from the Payment of Quit Rent 
for such a number of years as his Majesty shall be pleased to indulge 
therein. 

Given under my Hand and Seal at Arms at Fort George in the city of 
New York the twenty-first day of September 1759 in the thirty-third year 
of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George the Second by the Grace of 
God of Great Britain France and Ireland King Defender of the Faith and 
so forth. JAMES DE LANCE Y. 

By his Honour's Command 

G. W. Banyar D Secy. 

God save the King. 

As already recorded, a response was soon made to tLis procla- 
mation by the application of Daniel Prindle, and others, for a 



372 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

patent for a township of 23000 acres lying upon the Hudson 
river, and embracing within its limits the three clearings men- 
tioned. Previous to this, however, the buildings at the Half- 
way brook had found a tenant in the person of one Jeffrey Cow- 
per or Cooper, of whom Sir Jeffrey Amherst, in a letter to Mr. 
Sharpe, dated New York, 20th October, 1762, writes as follows : 

" The permit to Jeffrey Cooper to occupy the small post at 
Half-way brook between Fort Edward and Lake George was 
only intended for the preservation of the barracks, etc., that had 
been erected there, and for the conveniency of passengers, as I 
judged it unnecessary, after the reduction of Canada, to leave 
a garrison at that post. It would seem that Cowper was a sea- 
faring man, for in the Calendar of English MSS., in the secre- 
tary of state's office, p. 657, is filed a petition by " Ephraim Cook 
owner of the Snow Cicero 34 guns" in which he applies for a 
commission, and in case of his death, " to his first lieutenant, 
Richard Harris, and Jeffrey Cowper, his second lieutenant to 
command said Snow Cicero." 

Cowper (as the name is also spelled on the town records) is 
therefore without doubt the first permanent bona fide white set- 
tler in the town of Queensbury. 

This permit is supposed to have been granted as early as 
1759 or 60, while Gen. Amherst was present with his command 
in this vicinity. Cowper is conjectured to have been a depend- 
ent if not a relative of the general's. He is referred to in the 
following journal of Abraham Wing who accompanied the sur- 
veyor Zaccheus Towner, and made at this time his first visit to 
the scene of his future life work and labors. 

" August the 23d day 1762. Then set out for Queensbury 
township from home early in the morning, and dined at N"ehe- 
minh Merritts.^ Then set off for our journey and lodged at 
Esquire Castle's that night. The 24th traveled to Livingstone's 
manor; the 25th traveled to Grcenbush and lodged at Capt. 
Dows. The 26th we passed the ferry and eat breakfast in 
Albany and got our stores and traveled to Stillwater and lodged 
at Millerd's that night. The 27th was a rainy morning, but we 
traveled on toBeemises and there we eat breakfast, and waited 
there a little while, then went forward and eat dinner at Moores, 
and traveled that night nigh to Fort Miller and stayed there 
that night. The 28th we set forward being a showery day, 
made a short stop at Fort Edward where we were obliged to 

' Whose three sons had married three of Wing's daughters. 



PROPRIETORS' MINUTES. 373 

show our pass, and then set forward and arrived at the Half- 
way brook about the middle of the day, where we were doubt- 
ful of some trouble. We had not been there in the tavern many 
minutes before the question was asked of the tender, whether 
we should have the liberty of a room to put our stores in, and 
so told our business. He replied, there is room enough, and 
after a short consideration, he replied, if we would go with him, 
he would show us a room, and accordingly we cleared out our 
house, put in our stores, and went to surveying the town plot. 
The 29th, being the first day of the week, set forward early in 
the morning." ' 

Through the politeness of the late Mr. Abraham "Wing, some 
years since, I was permitted to copy from the proprietor's min- 
utes the following extracts. This book, which for three genera- 
tions had descended as an heirloom in the family, was destroyed 
in the great fire, which desolated our village in 1864. 

" At a proprietors' meeting, held for the township of Queens- 
bury this 18th day of June 1762 did by the majority of votes 
agree that Abraham Wing shall keep and preserve the certifi- 
cate and patent for said township. 

* * * * 

" At a proprietors' meeting held at Nehemiah and Daniel Mer- 
ritt's shop on the Oblong in Dutchess county July 10, 1762. 

"Voted — that the town lots in said township be drawn the 
14th inst. at this house. 

" Voted — that Daniel Chase and Thomas Akin shall draw the 
above mentioned lots, first being lawfully qualified and John 
Gurney to make a record thereof. 

* * * * 

" At a proprietors' meeting met according to appointment this 
8th day of Nov. 1762, at Nehemiah and Daniel Merritt's shop in 
Beekman precinct in Dutchess co. 

"At this meeting voted that Danl. Chase and William Haight 
were appointed to draw lots for the balance of the lots. 

* * * * 

" At a meeting held Feb. 23, 1763, Wm. Smith, Nehemiah 
Merritt and Abraham Wing were appointed trustees to rent out 
all the undivided lands. 



' The Wing MSS. Here tlie journal abruptly terminates, and it is fair to as- 
sume that the work of survey went harmoniously forward, until completed. The 
town plot herein referred to, is elsewhere described as the originally proposed 
site of the village. 



374 



HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 



The following names are recorded as proprietors at the meet- 
ing held on the 18th of June : John Dobsou, Nehemiah Merritt, 
Abraham "Wing, Daniel Merritt, John Lawrence, Henry Hay- 
dock, Wm. Smith, Benjamin Ferriss, John Burling, John Akin, 
Thomas Dobson, Reed Ferriss, George Bowne, Ichabod Mer- 
ritt, Elihu Marsh, jr., John Farrington, Haydock Bowne, Na- 
thaniel Hazard, John Rapelje, Samuel Bowne, Benj'u Seeley, 
John Carmon, Jacob Haviland, Samuel Hungerford, Joseph 
Pursell, John Hadok, Edward Burling, Elihu Marsh, Wm. 
Haviland, Nathaniel Stevenson, Isaac Mann. 

Thirty-one names in all, and of the entire number not over 
half a dozen of them who ever became actual residents, although, 
from time to time their descendants appear among the records 
of the township. Of the struggles and trials of these early set- 
tlers we can now have but the faintest conception. 

The following record from the public archives at Albany 
goes to show that an early eflbrt was made to improve the valua- 
ble water power in this neighborhood. 

" Moses Phillips acct. for Building Saw Mill at Queensbury for Moses 
Clement according to agreement made with him the 9th of July 1764. 
(That is to say) Moses Phillips at 7s per day. Jos. Taylor, his jour- 
neyman at 5s, and John his prentice at 2s per Day. 

Number of Days for each Man. 



M Phillips 


J. Taylor 


John 
the Prentice 




4 

5 

G 

6 

5 

6 

2* 

6 

6 

6 

6 

1 

6 

2 


4 
5 
6 
5 
5 
6 
3 
6 
6 

6 
2 


4 

t 

5 
6 
3 
6 
G 
G 
G 
1 
G 
2 


By Moses Phillips Acct. 
for Boarding, Drinking, 
Washing, and Lodging 
as pr Acct to Am't of £9.12.0 

By a Note on David Mat- 
thews for . . . £25. 0.0 

By one do on Mrs. Cle- 
ments . . , .£10. 4.6 


£44.16.6 


£49. 8.9 


£4.12.3 


67i 


55 


G7i 


£23.12.6 


£13.15 


£G.15 





Total sum, 



To 1 day allowed 

Extra for each Man 143 



£44. 2.6 
£44.16.6" 



The foregoing account being disputed or unpaid, an action 
was instituted (probably at Albany) for the recovery of the claim 



OLD ACCOUNTS AND OLD LAW SUITS. 375 

in March or April, 1765. Although there is nothing on the face 
of the account to fix the date of the construction of the mill, it 
must have heen at least as early as 1764 and possibly earlier. 
The following memorandum is appended to the account and 
forms a part of the original paper. 

" 1 Non Assumpsit to whole. 2 With leave of the Court, Non As- 
sumpsit as to £4.12.3. parcel and payment of £34.12.0 other parcel before 
action brought, and Tender and Refusal of Ten Pounds, five sixths Resi- 
due after action, to wit on the 6th April 1765 with £3.9.3 costs and refusal. 
" In support of Plea of Paymt. notice of Monies paid to Pltfs. use, of 
monies lent to him, of Meat, Drink, Washing and Lodging found and pro- 
vided by Deft, at Pltfs request for Plttf his journeymen apprentices, ser- 
vants and monies received by Pltf. for Defts. use, and Horse hire due 
from Pltf to Deft. 

£10. 4.6 
2. 8. 
10. 



13. 2.6." 



The result of the suit is not recorded. The location of the 
mill is left wholly to conjecture, but is supposed to have been 
near the mouth of the Cold brook, at the eastern boundary of the 
town, the power being supplied by a wing dam extending across 
to the island near the left bank of the river. There is no un- 
certainty at all, however, in the statement that a saw mill existed, 
and was in full operation here at the falls, as early as 1763, as 
appears by the following verified statement found among the 
Wing manuscripts. In the year following, viz. 1764, a saw 
bill of lumber manufactured for one of the Jessups appears 
among the same papers. 

City and County \ 
of Albany. j 

The deposition of Simeon Chandler taken upon oath before me Patt 
Smyth Esq., one of his Majesty's Justices of the Peace, for the county 
aforesaid etc. That in the year 1763, James Bradshaw did in my hearing, 
agree with Mr. Abraham Wing, and Mr. Nehemiah Merritt, for as many 
planks and boards as should be wanted for the work necessary to be done 
for the said mill in Kingsbury, in said year 1763, and on said Wing, and 
said Merritt departure from Queensbury, said Bradshaw did desire the 
above said Wing and Merritt would give orders that said Chandler should 



376 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

have what was then wanted for said work and said Wing and said Merritt 
did send a token to John Bracket to saw what planks were wanted for the 
work aforesaid. 

The above is a true copy of what was wrote by the hands of Simeon 
Chandler the 18th day of Dec, 1763. 

Patt Smyth, Justice. 

In the course of the summer of the following year (1763) an 
attempt was made towards a permanent settlement of the town. 
Mr. Abraham Wing and Ichabod Merritt moved from Dutchess 
county by slow and toilsome stages, and commenced the work 
of pioneers in the dense, green wilderness. The first building 
erected was a log dwelling, situated near the residence lately 
occupied by Mr. Charles Parsons, on the road leading to Sandy 
Hill. This was at first occupied by Mr. Abraham Wing, and 
his family. It is believed, though not certainly known at this 
late period, that Mr. Merritt, with his family occupied tempo- 
rarily the block house or picket fort in the neighborhood of 
Richard's steam saw mill. The second house was built in 1764 
also by Abraham Wing, who vacated his first built dwelling to 
his oldest son. This was likewise a log structure the debris of 
which may still be found a few rods in the rear of the old Mc- 
Donald mansion. A moss covered watering trough with its 
attendant spring, coeval with the log-house just mentioned, 
may be seen to-day by the roadside opposite the residence, just 
mentioned. 

The third building was a log house erected by Abraham 
Wing, jr., on the site of J. L. Kenworthy's store. A few years 
since, while laying the gas pipe for that building, the workmen 
struck upon the foundation stones of the old chimney remaining 
in the ground a short distance in front of the store. Log dwell- 
ings were built at an early period at other points, one of which 
tradition locates at the Butler brook on the plank road, and 
another on the brow of the hill overlooking Fielding & Mc- 
Carty's blacksmith shop, and still another near Mr. Henry 
Crandell's house. From the document appearing below ^ it is 



' Know all men by these presents that I Nebemiah Merritt, of Beekman's pre- 
cinct in Dutchess county, and province of New York, gentleman, for and in con- 
sideration of tlio sum of five sliilliugs current money of New York, to me in band 
paid by Abraham Wing, of Beekman's precinct in Dutchess county and province 
of New York aforesaid, have and by these presents do for me and my heirs, re- 
mise, release, and foniver quit claim unto him, the said Abraham Wing, his heirs 
and assigns in his peaceable and quiet possession, now being all that one full and 



THE FIRST CHILD. 377 

evident that another building was erected about this time on 
the site of the old Spencer tavern or Glen house under the hill. 

As previously stated, " the pine plains " to the west of us 
were covered with a heavy growth of superior yellow pine tim- 
ber, but the uplands along the river banks, and stretching towards 
the north and east, were interspersed with numerous clumps of 
a heavy growth of white pine, which were speedily seized upon 
by the settlers for material with which to construct their rude 
dwellings. The new proprietors were (with but one or two ex- 
ceptions) residents of Dutchess county, and though but few of 
them removed hither, yet from year to year we find their sons, 
nephews and relatives added to the list of inhabitants to whom 
their original interest had probably been assigned. 

The first child of white parents born in this town, was a son 
of Ichabod Merritt, and this child was the great grandfather of 
Isaac Mott, Esq., late district attorney for the county and one of 
the presidential electors in the last canvass. The late Daniel 
W. "Wing of Fort Edward, and the late Mr. Abraham Wing, of 
this place, were born in the log-house previously spoken of on 
the site of J. L. Kenworthy's store. 

The lumbering business in this region was commenced at a 
very early period. ]Mrs. Grant, in her Memoirs of an American 
Lady, in the year 1758, speaks of timber rafts being floated 
down the river to Albany, and to guard the interests of the 

equal half of all that saw-mill on the great fall in Queensbury township in Albany 
county and province of New York aforesaid which we the said Merritt and Wing 
in joint partnership built together, as likewise furnished said mill with utensils 
necessary, likewise the dwelling house standing a little northward about ten rods 
from said mill. 

Now therefore, what is herein contained and intended is that I the said Nehe- 
miah Merritt for me, my heirs and assigns will and hereby do release and forever 
quit claim unto him the said Abraham Wing his heirs and assigns, the one full 
and equal half of all that mill, dwelling house and utensils belonging to said 
mill, and furthermore the one equal half of the water, and water course to said 
mill, as likewise the equal half of said mill dam, raceway, log-way, and all other 
privileges advantages and profits thereunto belonging, unto him the said Abraham 
Wing his heirs and assigns forever. 

In witness whereof, I the said Nehemiah Merritt to this my release have set 
my hand and seal this seventh day of the tenth month in the year of our Lord 
one thousand, seven hundred and sixty-five. 

Nehemiah Merritt. [SEAii.] 

Sealed and delivered in the presence of 

Benjn. Ferris junr. 
Reed Ferris. 

48 



378 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

crown in this particular, in the j^ear 1770, Adolphus Benzel, 
son of Archbishop Eric Benzel, of Upsal, Sweden, was appointed 
inspector of his majesty's woods and forests in the vicinity of 
Lake Champlain, at a salary of <£300 per annum. His residence 
was at Crown Point. 

In May or June, 1865, Mr. William Gilliland, who had ob- 
tained a grant of lands in the limits of what is now Essex county, 
transported through this neighborhood a number of colonists 
to Plattsburgh. About this time the proprietors of the town 
of Queen sbury deeded to Mr. Abraham Wing, a section of 
thirty acres of unappropriated land immediately at the falls, in 
consideration that he had, at considerable expense, erected there 
a saw-mill and grist mill for the accommodation of the inhabit- 
ants.' A ferry was also soon after established leading from the 
upper roll way across to the head of Water street descending to 
the river from the old Folsom house, on the south side of the 
falls. The old road followed the course of the ravine leading 
from the canal basin to Park street. This ferry was continued 
with little interruption up to the close of the century. The first 
ferry house was a log building on the south side of the river, 
and on its bank a few rods above the dam, and was occupied 
by one of the Parks family. The cellar is even now visible. 
The house was burnt during the Revolution. The second, which 
was in use subsequent to the Revolution was built on this side 



^ To the lionorable proprietors and owners of Queensbury township in Albany 
county, your humble petitioner showeth : 

That Abraham Wing, late of Dutchess coimty, now resident in the above said 
township have at a great cost and charge built mills in and on a small tract of 
undivided land in the above said township to the great encouragement for settling 
ye above lands which is and must be an advantage to the owners. 

Wherefore in consideration for such cost and encouragement, I desire ye owners 
of said lands on which the mills stand will convey the same to me as is under- 
written, etc. 

This indenture made this seventh day of March in the year of our Lord one thou- 
sand seven hundred and sixty-six by and between we the subscribers of the one 
part, and Abraham Wing late of Dutchess county, now resident in Queensbury 
township, Albany county and province of New York of the other part witnesseth, 
that we the subscribers for divers good causes and considerations us hereunto 
moving, the receipt whereof we do hereby acknowledge have granted, bargained, 
quitclaimed and confirmed, and by these present do grant, bargain, quitclaim, 
alien, and confinu unto the said Abraham Wing his heirs and assigns forever, all 
the right, title, interest, claim and demand that we now have, ever had, or ought 
to have in that certain tract or parcel of undivided land in the township of Queens- 
bury in Albany county and province above said situate lying on the Great falls 
by Hudson's river in the above township, bounded to the east by lands of Nathaniel 



HARDSHIPS AND LUXURY. 379 

the river near the rollway. Its remains have been visible to a 
recent date. These various improvements again aroused the 
apprehensions of the Indians, and more especially the Mohawks, 
who entered a formal complaint and protest to Sir Wm. John- 
son, the superintendent of Indian aflairs for the northern pro- 
vinces. These claims were afterwards amicably adjusted, by 
purchase and an annual subsidy as elsewhere recorded. 

"While the first settlers here were encountering the hazards 
and hardships of a forest life, a different scene was being en- 
acted at a distance of less than 50 miles. Sir Wm. Johnson, 
resting from the fatigues and exertions of the famous Pontiac 
war, was entertaining in a style of baronial splendor never par- 
alleled on this side the Atlantic, a brilliant coterie of guests 
from the mother country, among whom were the Lady Susan 
O'Brien, eldest daughter of the Earl of Ilchester, with her hus- 
band, and Lord Adam Gordon, who afterward became com- 
mander-in-chief of the army in Scotland, and who on his return 
was accompanied by the baronet's son John, who was destined to 
fill so conspicuous a part in the border annals of the Revolution. 



Stevenson and William Haviland, to the north and west by lands of Abraham 
Wing, and to the south on Hudson's river, containing about thirty acres of land, 
be the same more or less ; and also all trees, wood, underwood, water, water-courses, 
profits, commodities, advantages, hereditaments whatsoever to the said messuage 
and undivided land above mentioned belonging or in any wise appertaining, and 
also the reversion and reversions of every part thereof, and also all our estate, 
right, title, interest, claim, and demand whatsoever to him the said Abraham 
Wing, his heirs and assigns forever, to have and to hold the above granted, bar- 
gained, and quit claimed premises above mentioned and every part thereof to the 
only proper use and behoof of the said Abraham Wing, his heirs and assigns for- 
ever. And we the subscribers for ourselves, our heirs and assigns will warrant 
and forever defend from any claiming from or under us by these presents. In 
witness whereof to these presents we have hereimto subscribed our names and 
affixed our seals the day and year above written. 





Benjamin Seelye, 


[L.S.] 




John Akin, 


[L.S.] 




Reed Ferriss, 


[L.S.] 




Nathaniel Stevenson. 


[L.S.] 




Jacob Havtland, 


[L.S.] 




William Haviland. 


[L.S.] 


Sealed and delivered in presence of 






Reed Ferriss, 






Matthew Franklin, 






Gains Talcott, 






Judah Handy, 






Jacob Hicks, 






Eliezer Ilerrick. 







380 



HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 



In 1766, on Tuesday, the 6th day of May, the first town meet- 
ing was held in the town of Queensbury, when the following 
ofiicers were chosen, viz : 

1. Abraham Wing, Moderator. 

2. Asaph Putnam, Town Clerk. 

3. Abraham Wing, Supervisor. 

4. Jeffrey Cowper, Assessor. 

5. Ichabod Merritt, Assessor. 

6. Asaph Putnam, Constable. 

7. Ichabod Merritt, Collector. 

8. Benajah Putnam, Pathmaster. 

9. Truelove Butler, Poundkeeper. 

10. Abraham Wing, Overseer of the Poor. 

11. Caleb Powel, Overseer of the Poor. Eleven ofiices di- 
vided among seven male adults who manifestly composed the 
entire population of the town eligible to office ; and of these 
seven, only two were proprietors of the soil. 




THE FIRST RELIGIOUS SOCIETY. 381 




CHAPTER VIII. 

First Religious Society — Permit for a Friend's Meeting — Second 
Town Meeting — Northern Forts placed in defensible Condi- 
tion — Charlotte County Erected — Its Boundaries — First 
Court Held — Settlement op Harrisena — Resident Indians — 
Early Improvements — Wing's Tavern ; and its scenes of Rev- 
elry — -Wolves and their Depredations — Project for the Erec- 
tion OF A NEW Province — Some Account of Major Skene. 

rlTH the single exception of Jeffrey Cooper, or Cow- 
per, as the name is variously written and printed, 
the first settlers of the town of Queensbury were 
members of the society of Friends, and as such, by 
reason of their peculiar religious tenets, necessarily precluded 
from participating in the hot partisan feeling, which, like the 
first groundswell presaging a storm, was even now surging up 
from the Atlantic seaboard to the hearts and homes of the 
American people. 

It may have been the prescience of the revolutionary contest 
which sent these pioneers into the shelter of the peaceful wil- 
derness, to avoid the contentions and struggles, the bitter pas- 
sions and intense animosities of civil war. If so, they came 
where the scourge fell with sharp and unmerited severity upon 
the non-combatants of these border towns. 

It is diflEicult to conjecture, and more so to realize, the emo- 
tions of those first settlers pushing out for the first from the 
surrounding of kindred and friends, the comforts and conve- 
niences of civilization, for a life long separation and isolation 
to endure the privations and dangers of the wilderness. 

After the settlement was fairly established, one of the first 
provisions of the settlers was the establishment and mainte- 
nance of religious services after the simple forms of the faith 
which had obtained in the Wing family and their Dutchess 
county neighbors, for the previous four generations. These 
services according to tradition were first held in the rude and 
humble dwelling of Abraham Wing the pioneer ; and afterward, 
in the first house of worship erected in town, namely the old 



382 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

log Quaker church, built on the south side of the Half-way 
brook, on the west side of the Bay-road. The following is a 
copy of the first permit : 

"Minute of a monthly meeting held at Nine partners in 
Dutchess county and Province of New York the 19th of the 
3d month, 1767.^ 

" At this meeting Abraham Wing on behalf of friends at 
Kingsbury 2 and Queensbury, (and by way of Oblong preparative 
meeting) requested liberty to hold a meeting for worship there 
once a week, and its allowed at present to be held each first 
day at twelve o'clock. And said Abraham Wing, and James 
McKenney are appointed to have some care and oversight 
thereof, and make report to this Monthly Meeting once in three 
months, or as often as they can, how the meeting is kept up and 
conducted, and what satisfaction they have in meeting together 
in that GREAT, and necessary duty. 

" True Copy, 

"Pr. Zebulon Ferriss, Clerk." 

It is stated on tradition, that at the time of the division and 
drawing of the town lots, one John Buck drew a lot now partly 
embraced within the limits of the corporation of Glen's Falls, 
and when the surveyors' bill was presented, being unable to 
meet his assessment, he sold or ofl:ered his interest for a peck 
of beans.^ 

The following is a copy of the town record for the year 1767 : 
" At the annual town meeting held in Queensbury on Tues- 
day, ye 5 day of May, 1767, for the township of Queensbury. 

1 voted. Abraham Wiug, Moderator. 

2 voted. Asaph Putnam, Town Clerk. 

3 voted. Abraham Wing, Supervisor. 

4 voted. Abraham Wing, and Asaph Putnam, Assessors. 

5 voted. Asaph Putnam, Constable. 

6 voted. Ichabod Merritt, Collector. 

7 voted. Benager Putnam, Pathmaster. 

■ From the Wing MSS. 

' James Bradshaw and other petitioners for and settlers of the Kingsbury 
patent, were residents of Now Milford, in the colony of Connecticut, whence, also, 
some of the patentees, and first settlers of Queensbury also came. In both of 
these towns the Quaker element was originally very strong, and in the latter for 
many years predominant ; spreading hence to various parts of Warren county. 

■' This statement is given on the authority of the late Ransom Jenkins, Esq. 



I 



TOWN RECORDS. 383 

8 voted. Benjamiu Wiug, Poundkeeper. 

9 voted. Abraham Wing, and Ichabod Merritt, Overseers of 
the Poor. 

10 voted. Benjamin Wing and Phineas Babcock, Fence 
Viewers." 

Asaph Putnam, a new comer this year, lived in a small log 
dwelling near the residence of the late Roger Haviland, facing 
the head of South street on the road to the big dam. It will 
be seen that in 1767, the names of Jeffrey Cowper and Caleb 
Powel are dropped, and Benjamin Wing, the eldest son of Ab- 
raham Wing, is elected poundkeeper and fence viewer. Phineas 
Babcock is also elected another fence viewer. The other offi- 
cers nearly as before. 

This year the functions of the N. Y. assembly were suspended 
by act of parliament, in consequence of the refusal of that body 
to endorse the celebrated Mutiny Act. The temper of this 
patriotic body, already inflamed by the passage of the stamp 
act, as well as other obnoxious legislation, was not yet subdued 
to the point of cringing suppliance to tyranny, that in later years, 
made it the tool of parliamentary power. 

To sustain the foregoing act. Gen. Gage, commander-in-chief 
of his majesty's forces in North America, proceeded to place 
the fortresses at the head of Lake George, Ticonderoga, and 
Crown Point in repair and supply them with suitable garrisons 
and muniments of war. If the peace loving Quakers of Queens- 
bury had been at all disposed to revolt, they must have been con- 
siderably overawed by these military preparations. 

The exact period of the erection of the grist mill ^ at the falls 
is not with certainty now known, but until its erection, the 

' The following article of agreement found among the Wing MSS., was entered 
into between Abraham Wing of Queensbury and Daniel Jones of Fort Edward in 
1770. It incidentally mentions the existence of a grist mill and saw mill at that 
date, and makes provision for the erection of a Dutch saw mill. 

" Articles of agreement indented and made this eleventh day of Oct., in the 
year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy, between Daniel Jones 
of Fort Edward, in the county of Albany of the one part, and Abraham Wing of 
Queensbury in the same county of the other part, as follows : 

" Whereas, the said Daniel Jones and Abraham Wing, are this day become joint 
owners and proprietors of a certain fall or stream of water and a saw mill with 
ten acres, two quarters and fifteen rods of ground adjoining the same with their 
appurtenances by deeds between them this day executed ; and, whereas it is pro- 
posed that the said Daniel Jones shall erect and build another saw mill little be- 
low the said saw mill there already standing, for the joint use and benefit of them 
the said Daniel Jones and Abraham Wiug their executors, adm'rs and assigns. 



384 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURT. 

inhabitants of this as well as Bradshaw's township were depend- 
ent upon the mills at Stillwater for their supply of flour, the 
place being accessible partly by boat and partly by the old mili- 
tary road constructed ten or twelve years before. 

A few slight changes occurred from year to year in the choice 
of subordinate town officers, and with the gain in the population 
there was a corresponding increase in the number of officials. 

In the year 1769 Samuel Brownson ^ was elected as one of the 
fence viewers. In 1770 Job Wright was elected to several offi- 
ces and Ebenezer Fuller chosen poundkeeper. The names of 

" Now it is therefore covenanted and agreed between the said parties in manner 
following, and Imprimis. The said Daniel Jones doth hereby covenant promise 
and agree that he or his assigns shall and within the space of three months next 
after the date hereof in a good and workmanlike manner, well and substantially 
erect and build, or cause to be erected, built, set up and finished one saw mill 
called a Dutch saw mill (betweeen the said above mentioned saw mill and the 
grist mill of the said Abraham Wing) according to the draft or plan or scheme 
hereunto annexed and the said Daniel Jones does hereby covenant and agree to 
compose the said saw mill with wood, timber, boards, and other utensils at his 
own proper cost, charge and expense. 

" Secondly. The said parties do covenant and agree that when the said saw mill 
is once built and completed, that such saw mill with all its appurtenances shall 
be, and must be for the joint use and benefit of both the said parties, their execu- 
tors, administrators and assigns in like manner and on the same way as they now 
do use possess and enjoy the said saw mill already erected and standing as before 
mentioned. 

" Thirdly. And the said parties do hereby further covenant and agree that they 
themselves and their executors, adm'rs, and assigns shall and will from time to 
time and at all times hold and keep or cause to be holden and kept in good, pro- 
per and sufiicient repair the said two saw mills with their sluices, dam, and ap- 
purtenances at their equal and joint costs and expense. 

" Fourthly. The said Daniel Jones doth hereby covenant and agree that the said 
two saw mills shall not by his means or by the means or procurement of his exe- 
cutors, adm'rs, or assigns take away or consume so much water of the said stream 
as to prevent or hinder the grist mill of the said Abraham Wing from going and 
grinding. Lastly. For the true pur fo nuance of all and every the said covenants 
and articles, the said parties do hereby bind themselves to the other each their exe- 
cutors, adm'rs and assigns in the penalty of the sum of one thousand pounds law- 
ful money <^f New York. In witness whereof the said parties have hereunto set 
their hands and seals the year first above written. 

DaShel Jones, [l.s.] 
Abkaham Wing, [l.s.] 
Sealed and delivered in presence of us 
Chris. Yates, 
John Glen. 

The saw mill to be built in consequence of the foregoing agreement is to be 
forty-seven feet in length, eighteen feet in width, and to go with fourteen saws. 

' It would appear from the following documents, occurring in the Wing MSS., 
that Brownson was a partner of Wing, and also very probably manager and over 



SUBDIVISION OF ALBANY COUNTY. 385 

Benajah Putnam and Samuel Brownson were dropped. In 1771 
Daniel Jones, who married a daughter of Abraham Wing and 
was a brother of David Jones to whom the celebrated Jane 
McCrea was affianced, was elected poundkeeper. He afterwards, 
during the revolutionary struggle, espoused the English cause 
and went to Canada. Benjamin Hix or Hicks, another son-in- 
law of Abraham Wing was this year elected as one of the as- 
sessors. 

In 1772 JSTehemiah Seelye was elected one of the assessors. 
His residence it is stated was on the site of the old Cornell 
place,^ at the junction of the East line and the Sandy Hill 
roads. He was the ancestor of the Seelye families now residing 
in the north part of the town. 

At this election Ichabod Merritt and Jacob Hix were chosen 
firemen, which may with great propriety be looked upon as 
the first organization of a fire department in this town. 

During this year, Albany county was subdivided; that por- 
tion which included all the colonial settlements to the west 
and south-west of Schenectady was set off under the name of 
Tryon county, so named in honor of "William Tryon, then go- 
vernor of the province. Charlotte county was set off the 12th 
of March, 1772, and embraced all the territory now comprised 
in Washington, Warren, Essex and Clinton counties in ISTew 
York, and part of Bennington, Rutland, Addison, Chittenden 
and Franklin counties, Vermont.^ It was so named in honor 



seer of the mills. This paper also detehnines the existence of a grist mill here 
at that early date. 

" Queensbury the 4th day of February, 1771. We the subscribers have this day 
settled all our accoimts on book excepting the saw mill and grist mill affairs and 
there remains due to Abraham Wing to balance book account, nine pounds, fifteen 
shillings York currency as witness our hands." 

Samuel Brownson, 

Abraham Wing. 

Witness 

Asaph Putnam, 
Job Wright. 

' One of the Montee brothers has recently erected a fine residence on this site. 

" Its more strictly defined boundaries (vide TJiompson's Vermont, part n, p. 20), 
were as follows : North by the Canada line. East by the western boundaries of 
Gloucester and Cumberland counties (which followed mainly the trend of the 
summit ridge of the Green mountains) ; to the north line of Sunderland and 
Arlington, Vt., and thence following the Battenkill to its confluence witli the 
Hudson river. The latter stream constituted its western boundary to its source, 
and thence due north to the Canada border, the place of beginning. 
49 



386 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

of the Princess Charlotte of Meckleuburgh Strelitz, the consort 
of King George the III. 

A considerable strife ensued for the location of the county 
seat. Lord Dunmore, who was interested in a tract on the east 
side of Lake Champlain in the vicinity of Crown Point, offered 
to erect the public buildings free of cost to the county, if the legis- 
lature should pay him the compliment of fixing upon his land for 
the court house to stand upon. A strongly signed petition from 
the inhabitants of Socialborough (now Clarendon, Vt.), and 
vicinity urged its claims for this distinction. 

But the strongest, and most energetic eifort was made in 
behalf of the large and prosperous settlement of Skenesborough, 
(now Whitehall), at the head of Lake Champlain. One appli- 
cation to Gov. DeLancey for this purpose, in which it provided 
that Major Skene (a) should furnish in fee simple a tract of 
ground for public use was accompanied by the names of 281 

(a) Phelip Skene was tlie grandson of John Skene, of Halyards, in Fifesliire, 
Scotland, and a descendant of the famous William Wallace. He entered the army 
in 1739, in which year he served in the expedition against Portobello, and in 1741, 
was at the taking of Carthageua. 

He fought in the celebrated battle of Fontenoy, in 1745, in that of Culloden, the 
following year, and in 1747, was present at the battle of Laffeldt, imder the Duke 
of Cumberland. He came to America in 1756, and on the 2d of February, 1757, 
was promoted to a company in the 37th or Inniskillen Regiment of foot, which 
formed part of the force under Lord Loudon's command that year ; was next en- 
gaged under Lord Howe, at the unfortunate attack on Ticouderoga, in July, 1758, 
on which occasion he was wounded, and was appointed, on the 31st of July, 1759, 
major of brigade by General Amherst. In October following, was left in charge 
of Crown Point, the works of which he had orders to strengthen. His position at 
Crown Point made him familiar with the surrounding country, and encouraged by 
General Amherst, he projected a settlement at Wood creek, and South bay, at 
the head of Lake Champlain, and in the promotion of that design, soon after settled 
about thirty families there; in 1762, he was ordered on the expedition against 
Martinico and Havana, and was one of the first to enter the breach on the storming 
of Moro Castle. 

On his return to New York, in 1763, he renewed his efforts to complete liis settle- 
ment at Wood creek ; went to England ; obtained a royal order for a con- 
Biderable tract of land at that place, for which a patent was granted March, 1765, 
and it was formed into a township under the name of Skenesborough. His regi- 
ment having been ordered to Ireland, Major Skene exchanged into the 10th 
foot in May, 1768, so as to remain in America ; but he did not continue long in 
the army, for he sold out in December of the following year, and in 1770, estab- 
lished his residence at Skenesborough, now Whitehall, Washington county. 
Here he erected forges for smelting iron, mills for sawing timber, and opened a 
. road to Salem and Bennington, which was afterwards known as Skene's road. His 
plans were interrupted by the Revolution. In June, 1775, he was arrested at 
Philadelphia, and brought to New York, and thence taken to Hartford. He was 



CHARLOTTE COUNTY. 387 

male petitioners, 71 of whom were tenants on Major Skene's 
estate.^ 

On the 18th of March, 1772, an act passed the legislative 
council " to enable the inhabitants of the county of Charlotte to 
raise and defray the public and necessary charges of the said 
county, and to choose county officers." ^ 

On the 8th of September, 1773, an ordinance was issued by 
the governor with the advice of the council, " establishing a 
court of common pleas, and a court of general sessions of the 
peace to be held annually in the county of Charlotte, at the 
house of Patrick Smith, Esquire, near Fort Edward, on the 
third Tuesday in the months of October and May.^ 

The first court in the county was held at the house of Patrick 
Smith, in the village of Fort Edward, October 19th, 1773. The 
presiding judges were William Duer and Philip Schuyler, both 
of whom espoused the cause of liberty in the revolutionary 
struggle and held conspicuous positions in the councils of the 
young nation. The county clerk was Daniel McCrea, a son of 
liberty, and a brother of Jane McCrea, whose name inspired 
many a heart and arm in the war so soon approaching. The 
assistant j ustices were Patrick Smith, Ebenezer Clark, Alexander 
McS^aughton and John Marsh. The following is a list of grand 
jurymen: Archibald Campbell, Michael Huffnail,^ Robert 
Gordon, Albert Baker, Daniel Watkins, Joseph McCracken, 

allowed to reside on parole at Middletown, Connecticut ; but in May, of the follow- 
ing year, on refusing to renew his parole was committed to prison. He was finally 
exchanged in October, 1776, when he was conveyed to the city of New York, 
whence he sailed in th& beginning of 1777, for England. He volunteered to ac- 
company Burgoyne the same year, and in August was ordered to attend Lieut. 
Col. Baume, in his secret expedition, which met a disastrous defeat at Bennington, 
at the hands of General Stark, on the 16th of that month. In this campaign Col. 
Skene had his horse twice shot under him, and was afterwards taken prisoner 
with Burgoyne's army. In 1779, he was attainted and his property confiscated 
by the legislature of New York. After the war Colonel Skene, 'tis said, came to 
this country during Governor Clinton's administration and tried to recover his pro- 
perty, but not succeeding went back to England where he lived in retirement, and 
died on the 9th of October, 1810, at an advanced age at Addersy Lodge, near Stoke 
Goldington Bucks. In the obituary notice he is styled : " formerly lieutenant go- 
vernor of Crown Point and Ticonderoga, and surveyor of his Majesty's Woods and 
Forests, bordering on Lake Champlain." — Compiled from Gentleman's Magazine. 

1 Doc. Hist. JSr. ¥., vol. iv, p. 818. 

^Journal of the Legislative Council of New York, vol. ii, p. 1841. 

= Doc. Hist. N. T., vol. iv, p. 846. 

* Michael Huffnagle. A partner of Albert Baker, in the mills at Baker's falls, 
Sandy Hill. He afterwards, in the revolutionary war became a tory, and went 
to Canada. 



388 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

Joshua Conkey, Jeremiah Burrows, Levi Stockwell, Levi 
Crocker, Moses Martin, Alexander Gilchrist andDaniel Smith.^ 

Gen. Sir Wm. Johnson, Bart., reports this year to the secre- 
tary of state, that the militia of Charlotte county are as yet 
unorganized, and Gov. Tryon states in another official report 
that the county remains unrepresented in the colonial assembly. 
It is believed that Fort Edward remained the recognized county 
seat until after the Revolution. An old building now standing 
near the burial ground, at the lower part of that village, was, 
in the early part of the war the frequent scene of exciting dis- 
cussion by the committee of safety, and the noisy demonstra- 
tions of the young partisans of the new republic. 

In 1773 the town records of Queensbury exhibit the following 
addition to the list of officers, viz : David Buck, constable, and 
Benedict Brown, overseer of the poor. Benedict Brown, the 
ancestor of the Brown family or rather families of this town, 
probably emigrated with his family the previous season and 
commenced the first settlement at the outlet of the Long pond 
at the place now called the Butternut flats. The Long pond was 
then frequently called the French pond, and mills were built 
on its outlet at a very early period. JSTot far from this time also 
the Harrises and Braytons settled near the southern part of 
Fort Anne, then called the artillery patent, or the township of 
Weslfield, which also included that portion of the town of 
Queensbury now known as Harrisena. Nehemiah Seelye is 
supposed to be a relative of Benj. Seelye, one of the proprietors. 
In the year 1774 the name of Zachariah Butler appears on the 
town records as being elected to the office of pathmaster. From 
him the jiame of Butler's brook is said to be derived. During 
the Revolution he became a tory, buried his property in the 
vicinity of the brook and fled to Canada. After the termination 
of the war he returned and reclaimed his effects. During this 
early period of the settlement of the town, while the greater 
part of the township was yet an unbroken forest the inhabitants 
often experienced the greatest difficulty in obtaining a sufficient 
stock of food not only for themselves but for their cattle. They 
depended mainly for their supplies of hay from two large beaver 
meadows, one situated upon the Five-mile run, which thence 
obtained the name of the Meadow run, a portion of which is 
now visible from the plank road ; and the other, upon the out- 

' Corey's Gazetteer of WasMngton County, pp. 1 aud 2. 



I 



r 



JOTTINGS OF EARY TIMES. 389 

let of the Big Cedar swamp on the east side of the town that ran 
through great lot No. 3 which was owned by Reed Ferriss, and 
the stream, in consequence, came to be called Reed's Meadow 
creek. This stream runs south-east through Moss street, re- 
ceives as tribute the drainage of the great Kingsbury swamp 
and empties into the Hudson at Fort Edward, where it is called 
Fort Edward creek. 

Before the 'settlement of the country a frequently followed 
trail of the Indians was a portage of less than a mile in length 
between this stream near Moss street, and Wood creek leading 
past Fort Anne, the remainder of the route being made in their 
canoes. At this time, and long afterwards, the volume of this 
stream was such that saw mills were erected upon it at diiferent 
points, but the clearing up of the adjacent lands has diminished 
it to an insignificant rivulet. 

Several small Indian settlements, each occupied by a few 
families, who resorted here annually during the summer and 
autumn months for the purposes of hunting, fishing, and occa- 
sionally in the winter, for trapping, existed at Ilarrisena, Dun- 
ham's bay, at the outlet of the Long pond, at the Big bend, and 
at the foot of the Palmertown mountain on the south side of 
the river. They still claimed these woods and plains as their 
hunting grounds, and traditions are preserved in the Brown, 
Goss, Odell, and Moon families, of the amicable relations sub- 
sisting between these nomadic children of the forest, and the early 
settlers of the town, and the frequent interchange of courtesies 
and kindness between them. 

In the course of the first ten years after the commencement 
of the settlement, besides the mills, and other improvements 
already named, there were nearly, if not quite two dozen of 
narrow, blackened fallows, and scarred, stump dotted clearings, 
each containing its log house, and humble betterments. Among 
these, of whose location we have been certified, are the Benny 
Wing place, on the site of the Piatt farm house, and that of 
William Wing at the Geer place.^ There were also three or 
four rough, corduroyed, wilderness roads, one leading to the 
Ridge, another toward Dunham's bay, one across by the Outlet, 
from the upper picket fort to Ilarrisena, and thence on tc^Fort 
Ann, the old grass grown military highway from Fort Edward 
to the head of the lake, which has been so often mentioned, 



1 From tlxe late Mrs. Alfred Ferriss. 



390 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OP QUEENSBURY. 

and a cross road extending along the north line of the town 
plot. Besides these were a bridle path through the plains to 
the Big bend, and the old, deeply trodden Indian trail, opening 
to the ford at the Morgan place, and leading along the east side 
of the towD, connecting Wood creek to the outlet of the Big 
Cedar swamp. This carrying place was called in the aboriginal 
tongue by the euphonious name Kiugiaquahtonec. 

At a very early period in the annals of the township, and it is 
believed anterior to the Revolution, a log dwelling of con- 
siderable dimensions was erected on or near the site of the store 
now owned and occupied by D. H. Cowles & Co., on the corner 
of Ridge and Warren streets. 

This was originally occupied by Abraham Wing, for the 
purpose of a store and inn, where the few straggling way- 
farers which the love for adventure, the hunt for game and 
peltry, or traffic with the natives, may have drawn from the 
more civilized regions at the south found such accommoda- 
tions for man and beast, as a new, and sparsely settled, but 
always hospitable neighborhood could atford. Many years since, 
it was observed that a particular place on the side walk between 
Cowles's corner and the Traphagan block, became dry after a 
storm, or during the mud and frosts of the spring season, sooner 
than elsewhere. Digging down upon this spot, when the store 
was rebuilt about the year 1853, revealed the existence of an 
old well, the mouth of which, six inches below the surface, was 
covered by a flat stone, and the well itself thoroughly walled 
from the bottom. Recalled to mind by some of the oldest in- 
habitants, it was spoken of, as having been used for the accom- 
modation of the early settlers at the Corners, and as having fur- 
nished very clear, pure, and cold water. 

Here according to the Wing papers, hundreds of pounds 
worth of liquor of various kinds were brought from Albany, 
Montreal, and on one occasion from N^ova Scotia. Here the 
Jessups, Hugh Munro, Capt. Bradshaw and the neighbors with 
but few exceptions, held high revel and ran up bar bills of 
lusty proportions.^ And hence from the location of this tavern 
the little settlement soon became known, in addition to its pro- 
per name of Quecnsbury patent, and its foster name of Wing's 
Falls, as Wing's Corners, and finally as The Corners. 

' Hero too, according to tlie tradition of the Wing family, was held the entertain- 
nu;nt and revel which resulted in the loss of the children's birthright, the name 
of the i)lace, of which an account is given in the previous chapter. 



JOTTII^GS OF EARLY TIMES. ' 391 

These improvements comprised the external evidences of 
human occupation. The rest of the town remained one expanse 
of wilderness, save where its grave monotony was broken by its 
many streams and ponds. 

The deer, moose, and elk still trooped in throngs through the 
forest glades, and wolves and catamounts still made night 
hideous with their startling howls and half human cry. 

It is related that one of the early settlers, with great care, 
cost, and trouble drove hither a small flock of sheep, and for 
security placed them over night in a log pen near his dwelling. 
The wolves contrived to force their heads through the crevices 
between the logs, and killed all but two of the inoffensive and 
helpless prisoners. 

The remaining two, my informant quaintly remarked, " were 
killed the next day to save them." Sheep culture in those days, 
needed something more than the stimulus of an agricultural 
society and show, with its prizes and commendations, to en- 
courage the introduction of rare and costly breeds ! 

During one winter of extreme severity, the snow being so 
deep that the cattle could not as usual be driven to the swamps 
to browse, the settlers were obliged to feed them with salted 
fish, trout and suckers, which had been caught in the fall and 
with which all of the streams about here then abounded. 
About this time a plan was concerted and a petition sent to 
England to erect all of the northern portion of New York and 
the western part of Vermont, or the Hampshire grants ^ as they 
were then called, into a separate jurisdiction or province, of 
which Philip K. Skene ^ was to be the governor, and Skenes- 
boro, now Whitehall, was to be the seat of government. What 
might have been the ultimate result of this well laid scheme 
can not now be easily predicted, as the breaking out of the re- 
volutionary war and the capture of Skene himself two years 
subsequently, put a summary end to his ambitious machinations. 
His property and estates were confiscated at the close of the war. 

' The claim of New HampsMre it is understood, extended to the bead of Lake 
George, and included the eastern half of the town of Queensbury, although so far 
as known no patents were issued, or any territorial jurisdiction assumed. — Letter 
to the author from Judge Hay. 

^ " In 1761, Philip Skene, an English major under half pay, who had been with 
Amherst in 1759, established a large colony near the mouth of Wood creek. In 
the autumn he accompanied an exi)edition against Havana, and on liis return, in 
1763, found the settlement reduced to fifteen persons. He immediately set about re- 



392 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

While the Wiugs and the Merritts, the Joneses, Browns, Put- 
nams, Seeljes, and other families were toiling in their wilder- 
ness seclusion, events were rapidly approaching that crisis which 
ended in severing the ties that bound the colonies to the mother 
country. Organized bands of the Sons of Liberty were striking 
terror to the officials of the British government in every city 
along the seaboard. Within thirty miles of the settlement, at 
the east, the authorities of IS'ew York and New Hampshire were 
at open variance and collision for territorial supremacy. Benniug 
Wentworth, the governor of N'ew Hampshire, without the least 
show of justice or title, having issued no less than 138 patents 
to lands within the jurisdiction of ISTew York, an embittered 
state of feeling ensued which did not terminate until years after 
the close of the Revolution, when the disputed territory was 
erected into a sovereign and independent state. How much or 
little the sturdy Friends of Queensbury were disturbed by these 
questions, tidings of which were borne on to them from time to 
time by their relatives from Old Dutchess, it is now difficult to 
say. The time was fast approaching, however, when the seclu- 
sion of the wilderness afforded no protection to opinions, and 
the most insignificant were forced to a decision in that first great 
struggle for our nationality. 

establishing the colony, and in 1765, obtained patents for twenty- five thousand acres 
of land lying on and near the creek. Here he built a stone mansion forty feet by 
thirty, and two stories and a half in height. In 1770, he erected a large stone 
building one hundred and thirty feet long, which was used for a military garrison 
and depot. He also built at tliis place a stone forge of about the same dimen- 
sions as his house, where he commenced the manufacture of iron. Tliis was the 
first forge erected on the borders of the lake. Skene owned a slooi>, with which he 
kept up a regular communication with Canada, and at his own expense he cut a 
road through the wilderness as far as Salem, a distance of about thirty miles, from 
which point it was continued by others to Bennington. This road was used during 
the season when the navigation on the lake was closed by ice. In 1773, Skenes- 
borough contained a population of 379." — Palmer's Histoi-y of Lake CMmplain, 
p. 95. 



NEW HAMPSHIRE GRANT CONTROVERSY. 393 




CHAPTER IX. 

The New Hampshire Grant Controversy — The First Continental 
Congress — The Patriotic Sentiment op this Neighborhood — 
The Seizure op the Forts at Ticonderoga, Crown Point and 
the Head op Lake George — Narrative op Captain Nordberg — 
Bernard Romans and Daniel Parke — Meeting op the Pro- 
vincial Congress at Albany — Disturbances at Fort Edward. 

)T is scarcely to be expected iu the history of a town- 
ship, that a full resume will be give a of the transac- 
tions and events which contribute to make up the 
annals of a nation. It will be proper, however, and 
quite legitimate to the purposes of this narrative, to bear in 
mind some of the leading events which ushered in the Revolu- 
tion, as being among the causes which retarded the growth of 
the settlement, and ultimately resulted in the entire depopula- 
tion of the patent; with the destruction of nearly all its improve- 
ments. 

As previously stated, the colonial controversy relating to the 
Hampshire grants, the disputed territory of which, extending 
to the southern extremity of Lake George,^ had long kept the 
eastern settlements of New York in a condition of ferment and 
feverish excitement. Stories of the brutal application of the 



' This assertion is made on the authority of the late Judo^e Hay. A reference 
to the documents relating to this famous controversy, contained in the fourth 
volume of the Documentary History of N. T., shows that the province of New 
York, holding jurisdiction under a charter and letters patent granted by King 
Charles the Second to his brother James, the Duke of York, bearing date the 12th 
of March, 1663-4 [0. S.], and 29th June, 1674, had the Connecticut river specifically 
designated as the eastern boundary of said province of New York. Afterward, 
difficulties having arisen by reason of the imperfect geographical knowledge of 
the day between that province and the colonies of Connecticut and Massachusetts 
Bay, joint commissioners were at different times appointed to adjust and determine 
the boundaries between these several provinces, by whom a line parallel to and 
twenty miles east of the Hudson river was agreed upon as the determinate bounds 
of their respective j urisdictions. 

The New Hampshire patent issued by George the Second, July 3d, 1741, defines 
its western limits to extend to his majesty's other governments. Presuming, with- 
out the least letter of justice or show of equity, upon the claims of Massachusetts 
50 



394 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

beech 8eal to certain officials of Albany county, beneath the 
grim shadows of the Green mountains helped to keep alive a 
feeling of insecurity all along the line of scattered hamlets to 
the north of Albany. The air was filled with rumors of approach- 
ing political disruptions. Already had the prototype of the 
continental congress held its session at Philadelphia.* Sons of 
Liberty had commenced their overt and daring acts of hostility 
to the crown officials.^ The patriotic associations of New 

and Connecticut, " that New Hampshire had an equal right to claim the same extent 
of western boundaries with those charter governments," ^ Gov. Wentworth pro- 
ceeded to issue patents and plant colonies upon this debatable ground ; which 
were, for twenty-five years or more, the fruitful source of acrimonious controversy, 
and atrocious, lawless outrages, the aggressors and perpetrators being in a large 
proportion of instances the inhabitants of the grants issued by Wentworth, and 
known as the Green Mountain boys. The line twenty miles east of the Hudson 
river following its curves and bends would intersect the eastern portion of the 
town and strike the southern extremity of Lake George at or near Dunham's bay. 
The following is an extract from an order in council made at the court of -St. 
James, the 20th day of July, 1764, fixing the boundary between New York and 
New Hampshire. * * * "His majesty taking the same into consideration was 
pleased with the advice of his privy council to approve of what is therein pro- 
posed, and doth accordingly hereby order and declare the western banks of the 
river Connecticut, from where it enters the province of the Massachusett's Bay as 
far north as the forty-fifth degree of northern latitude, to be the boundary line 
between the said two provinces of New Hampshire and New York. " — Doc. Hist. 
ofN. T., vol. IV, p. 574. 

* Samuel Adams of Massachusetts, on the morning of Friday, the 17th of June, 
1774, proposed in the presence of 129 colleagues of the general assembly, a conti- 
nental or general convention of delegates representatives from the different colonies 
to be held at Philadelphia on the first of September then next ensuing. In pursuance 
of this resolution the delegates convened at Carpenter's hall in Philadelphia on 
Monday the 5th of September. *****" This congress consisted 
of fifty -one delegates, representing twelve of the colonies Ij^ug along the shore of 
the Atlantic, from New Hampshire to South Carolina inclusive ; the greatest 
number of delegates for any one colony being seven, and the smallest two. But 
this disparity in the number of delegates did not affect the votes, as it was agreed 
that each colony should have but one vote, whatever was the number of its dele-' 
gates. Tlie congress sat with their doors locked, no one was permitted to be pre- 
sent at their deliberations, and all their proceedings, except those which they 
thought fit to publish, were kept profoundly secret." — Stedman'a Hist, of the 
American War, vol. i, p. 102. 

* The first liberty pole erected in the Mohawk valley Avas set up at the German 
Flats, in the early part of the year, which Alexander White, tlie tory sheriff of 
Tryon county, assisted by a party of loyalists cut down. So strong was the popular 
indignation against him, in consequence, that he was obliged to flee. Accompanied 
by a white man named Peter Bone, and two or three Indians, lie made a push for 
the Canada border, but was overtaken at Jissuji's landing on the Hudson river, 
the house where he had taken lodgings surrounded, and the fugitive sheriff taken 



1 Letter of Gov. Benning Weutworth to Gov. Cliuton, April 25th, 1750. 



I 



EVENTS PRECEDING THE REVOLUTION. 395 

York city and other sea board towns, found their counterpart 
on the frontiers ; and from the time of the stamp act riots, 
occasional gatherings of whigs assembled at Fort Edward among 
whom were numbered such representative and influential names 
as the Bradshaw, Moss, Baker, and High families of Kings- 
bury ; the Bitleys, Sherwoods, and Durkees, of Fort Edward, 
the Paynes, Parkes and McCreas of the'yet unnamed district on 
the west side of the Hudson ; so that when the beacon fires of 
the Revolution burst forth, the lines of political opinion vvere 
sharply drawn and defined, and, it was known at the outset, 
through a wide range of neighborhood, who were the friends, 
as well as foes of the general opposition to and uprising against 
British misrule. 

Of the various events standing prominently forth in the history 
of the times, none was more certainly thoroughly assured and 
prearranged than the capture of the old French fortress of 
Carillon, at Ticonderoga. This is so intimately associated with 
the subsequent seizure of Fort George, that, for a proper under- 
standing of that afiair, a brief narration of the circumstances 
which led to the former cannot with propriety be omitted. 
.Prior to the commencement of hostilities, Samuel Adams, 
and Dr. Joseph Warren, as members of the committee of cor- 
respondence in Boston, sent an agent privately to Canada, to 
ascertain the feelings of the people of that province in regard 
to the approaching contest, and to report the result of his ob- 
servations.^ 

This agent sent back intelligence from Montreal, and among 
other suggestions, advised that by all means the garrison at 
Ticonderoga should be seized as quickly as possible after the 
breaking out of hostilities, adding that the people of the l^ew 
Hampshire grants had agreed to undertake the task and that 



captive, and conveyed to Albany where he was imi^risoned — Vide Stone's Life of 
Brant, vol. i, p. 106-7. 

Tradition states that one of the Jessiips escaped beinw taken prisoner, by jump- 
ing across the Hudson river, at the narrow gorge just above the Big falls. Men- 
tion is made in the 1st vol. Revolutionary Papers of the arrest of Sheriff White 
with three white men and three Indians at Gilliland's, in what is now Essex 
county. Whether this refers to the same affair, or is the record of another arrest 
there is no means within the author's reach, of determining. 

'Of the activity of the revolutionists, something may be judged from the fact 
that " a correspondence was opened through Mr. Kirkland, even with the 
Mohawks, by the provincial congress of Massachusetts, before the affair of Lex-- 
ington and Concord." — Stone's Life of Brant, vol. i, p. 55. 



396 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEEI^BTJRT. 

they were the mo^^t proper persons to be employed in it. This 
hint was given three weeks before the battle of Lexington. 

The aflair at the last named place occurred on the 19th of 
April, 1775. Eight days after that event, several gentlemen 
who were in attendance upon the general assembly at Hartford, 
concerted a plan for the capture of Ticonderoga. 

Benedict Arnold's coihmission is from the committee of safety 
at Cambridge, Mass., and bears date May 3d, 1775. It con- 
ferred upon him the title of colonel and commander-in-chief of 
an expedition against Ticonderoga and Crown Point. In a 
communication to the printer, of nearly the same date, it is 
claimed for Col. Arnold, that on his march to Cambridge in 
April last, he concerted a plan for the capture of Ticonderoga^ 
and Crown Point, which he first communicated to a member of 
the committee for correspondence for Connecticut, and after- 
wards by letter to the governor of the province ; and after his 
arrival at Cambridge to the provincial congress and committee 
of safety.^ 

From the authority just quoted,^ we derive the additional 
information that on the 4th of May, a gentleman in Pittsfield, 
Mass., wrote to an officer then on duty at Cambridge, stating 
substantially that the plan for the capture had been concerted 
by the governor and council at Hartford, Conn., the preceding 
Saturday, and that Col. Hancock and Mr. Adams, with others 
from the province of Massachusetts, were present, and parti- 
cipated in the deliberations. Three hundred pounds were drawn 
out of the state treasury to defray the expenses of the expedi- 
tion, which sum was committed to those gentlemen that were 
here. The letter also states that a number of gentlemen from 
Connecticut, went from Pittsfield last Tuesday morning, having 
been joined by Col. Easton, Capt. Dickenson, and Mr. John 
Brown (a young lawyer of great promise), with forty soldiers 
(from Berkshire), in an expedition against Ticonderoga and 

1 An idea of the dilapidated condition of the barracks at this point may be derived 
from the fact that on the 29th of Sept., 1773, Gov. Tryon desiring Gen. Haldimand 
to station 200 men at Ticonderoga and Crown Point, as a protection against the 
New Hampshire rioters, the latter reports that the state of the buildings at those 
places is such, that they can't give cover in winter to more than fifty men. — Doc. 
Hist. N. ¥., vol. IV, p. 855. 

* Force's American Archives, Fourth series, vol. ii, p. 1087. 

' Idem, p. 507. This was Col. John Brown, for whom a few recent writers, with 
very little grounds, claim all the credit of this expedition. 



SEIZURE OP FORTS. 397 

Crown Point, expecting to be reinforced by one tbousand men 
from the grants above, a messenger having been previously dis- 
patched to inform Col. Ethan Allen of the design, and desiring 
him to hold his Green mountain boys in readiness. 

In a letter from Capt. Edward Mott ^ to the Massachusetts 
congress, dated Old Shoreham, 11th May, 1775, in which he 
states that " a number of the principal gentlemen of the assembly 
at iSartford, on Friday the 28th of April conversing on the dis- 
tressed condition of the country, fell on the scheme of to take 
the fortress [Ticonderoga.] I told the gentlemen it might be 
taken by surprise with few men if properly conducted, on which, 
they desired me, if I was willing to serve my country in that 
way, to join Capt. JSToah Phelps of Simesbury, and Mr. Bernard 
Romans («) on that design, and furnished us three hundred 
pounds in cash from the treasury.^ The result of this enterprise is 

(a) Bernard Romans was a native of Holland, and removed early in life to Eng- 
land, where lie studied the profession of engineer. He was employed in that capacity, 
in the southern colonies previous to the Revolution, and was a resident of Florida, 
from 1763 to 1773. Previous to his employment by the state of New York, he 
had a pension of fifty pounds from the British government as botanist of Florida, 
and published in 1775, a volume on the natural history of that province. In that 
year he was employed by the N. Y. committee of safety, to construct defences in 
the Highlands, with a salary equal to the pay of a colonel. In October following 
he was superseded. 

On the 8th of February, 1776, he was commissioned captain of a company of 
Pennsylvania artillery, destined for the invasion of Canada as part of the northern 
army. 

In May, 1776, he was sent back from Canada to be tried for misconduct, and on 
the 27th July, he was again tried for some difficulty with his lieutenant. It is to 
be presumed that he was honorably acquitted on these occasions, for in November 
he was deputed by General Gates to inspect the works at Fort Ann and Skenes- 
boro : In 1778 and 1783, he published at Hartford his Annals of the Troubles in 
the Netherlands, 3 vols., and in 1779, published in England with Capt. de Brahm 
a Compleat Pilot for the Gulf Passage. He married 38th January, 1779, Elizabeth 
Whiting, of Wethersfield, Conn., and continued in the service as an officer until 
1780, when he was ordered to South Carolina. On his passage thither the vessel 
and all on board were captured by the British, and carried to Jamaica, where he 
was held in captivity until the peace of 1783. He is said to have died on his re- 
turn passage to this country, though it was the opinion of his friends that he was 
murdered. He left behind him a high character as a professional man, and an 
author. — Note by J. Munsell to Ruttenher's Obstructions to the Hudson River. 

' James Easton. Epap. Bull, Edward Mott, and Noah Phelps, in a letter dated 
at Ticonderoga, 10th May, 1775, state that they are a committee sent from the 
colony of Connecticut, furnished with money for the purpose of reducing and 
garrisoning said fort. — Force's Am. Archives, Fourth series, vol. ii, p. 556. 

"^Force's American Archives, Fourth series, vol. ii, p. 558. Thus much by way 
of showing the estimated importance of these frontier posts, both of which accord- 
ing to the same authority were much out of repair, and in ruins, and how their 



398 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

familiar history to the world. The Pittsfield expedition joining 
forces at Bennington with Allen and his Green mountain boys 
they proceeded with celerity and captured the renowned fortress 
early on the morning of May 10th. 

The following curious version of the affair is given by Sted- 
man.^ " A volunteer, of the name of Ethan Allen, assembled, 
of his own accord, about fifty men, and proceeded immediately 
to the environs of the first mentioned fortress [Ticonderoga], 
commanded by Captain de la Place of the twenty-sixth regi- 
ment, who had under his command about sixty men. 

"Allen, who had often been at Ticonderoga, observed a com- 
plete want of discipline in the garrison, and that they even 
carried their supine negligence to the length of never shutting 
the gates. Having disposed his small force in the woods, he 
went to Capt De la Place, with whom he was well acquainted, 
and prevailed on him to lend him twenty men, for the pretended 
purpose of assisting him in transporting goods across the lake. 
These men he contrived to make drunk ; and, on the approach 
of night, drawing his own people from their ambuscade he ad- 
vanced to the garrison, of which he immediately made himself 
master. As there was not one person awake, though there was 
a sentry at the gate, they were all taken prisoners." 

After the close of the French war, or at least as early as the 
year 1767, the fort at the head of Lake George was partially 
dismantled, and abandoned as a military post ; the forts at 
Ticonderoga and Crown Point being of more massive character, 
were considered an adequate protection on a frontier no longer 
threatened by the annual incursion of the savages. At the time 
of which we write, the only occupants of this post, were a retired 
invalid officer of the British army, Captain John ISTordberg and 
two men supposed also to have belonged to the army, and who 
were possibly pensioners of the crown. There are reasons for 
supposing that one of these was John McComb, and the other 
Hugh McAuley whose name subsequently appears in the town 
records, and who was the ancestor of the McAuley family of 
this town. 



capture became the simultaneous subject of consideration, and object of efforts by 
various parties, legislators, statesmen, and military adventurers. It also accounts 
for tlu! subscMjueut strife for supremacy in tlie command, and for the final joint 
advance of Allen and Arnold side by side past the celebrated postern gate, through 
the covered way, and out upon the parade groimd together. 
' Jlintory of the American War, vol. i, p. 131. 



TRANSPORTATION. 399 

- Their duties seem to have been the supervision and care of 
the fortifications and buildings at that point, and to lend such 
assistance as might be needed in forwarding messages, the 
transmission of intelligence, and the expediting of expresses 
between Albany and Montreal. A person by the name of John 
Sparding or Sparden resided at the lower end of the lake, who 
in addition to like duties had the charge and care of a saw mill, 
on the outlet of Lake George. 

On the first of June, 1775, he petitioned congress for the pay- 
ment of seventeen pounds on a verbal agreement with Col. 
Arnold for services in transporting troops, etc., through Lake 
George, and over the carrying place. In this petition he stated 
that for upwards of six years past, he had provided boats and 
carriages to convey persons over the Lake [George] and carrying 
place, and batteaux on Lake Champlain for the convenience of 
travelers going to Canada. He adds, that his business is 
entirely arrested by the existing troubles since the 10th of May, 
the day on which Fort Ticonderoga was taken.' 

While the events just recorded were in progress, Capt. Herri ck 
of Connecticut, was instructed to proceed with his company con- 
sisting of thirty men to Skenesborough at the southern ex- 
tremity of Lake Champlain ; and there taking possession of 
whatever stores and munitions of war might be found, to pro- 
ceed down the lake and cooperate with the forces at Ticon- 
deroga. 

In the execution of this plan, Herrick succeeded in completely 
surprising the little settlement, making a prisoner of Major 
Skene, (afterwards referred to by Gov. Tryou as Colonel 
Skene), with twelve negroes, and about fifty leaseholders or 
tenants on the Skene patent. In addition to a very considera- 
ble supply of military stores, a schooner and several smaller 
boats were seized, and all were forwarded immediately to 
Ticonderoga. These were a valuable acquisition to the infant 

> Force's American Archives, fourth series, vol. ii, p. 747. In a communication 
to the New York congress, May 29th, 1775, Arnold enumerates several wants 
among which are two flat bottomed boats, to be built at Fort George, forty feet 
long, twelve feet wide and four deep, with strong knees, well timbered and of 
four inch plank. " These may be built at Sparden 's, where there is timber and a 
saw-mill handy." * * * * Four pairs of strong wheels wanted at Fort 
George, ten good teams, of four yoke of oxen each, to take up provisions and take 
down cannon. * * * * Signed, Benedict Arnold, colonel and commandant 
at, Ticonderoga. — Id. 



400 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

army of the republic, and afterward contributed to the capture 
of the small British force on the lake. 

Among the military personages to whom the emergencies of 
the hour gave special prominence, was Colonel Bernard Romans, 
who at this juncture appeared in Connecticut, and ardently es- 
poused the cause of the revolutionists. He was a soldier by 
training, a gentleman by birth and culture, and an accomplished 
scholar. He was present at Hartford on the 28th of April, 
1775, when the plan was framed for the capture of Fort Ticon- 
deroga. He and the other gentlemen concerned in the expe- 
dition set forward in different parties, and it is presumed by 
different routes. Whether he accompanied Capt. Herrick's 
party ^ from Castleton across to Skeuesborough, or came 
directly up the river to Fort Edward does not appear, the record 
only showing that he took possession of Fort George on the 
12th of May, as shown by the following petition. 

Captain J^ordberg («) to the I^ew York Provincial Congress. 
" The most respectable Gentlemen Provincial Congress in New 
York. I beg leave to represent to the most respectable con- 
gress this circumstance* 

I am a native of Sweden, and have been persecuted for that 
I have been against the French faction there. I have been in 
his Brittannick Majesty's service since January, 1758. 

I have been twice shot through my body here last war in 
America, and I am now 55 years old, reduced of age, wounds, 
and gravels, which may be seen by Doctor Jones certificate. 

[In] 1773, I got permission in Jamaica to go to London, 
where I petition to be an Invalid officer, but as a foreigner, I 



' Herrick's party reached Castleton, accompanied by the Bennington delegation, 
on the 7tli of May. From this point he was despatched on his mission to Skenes- 
borough with thirty men. — Force's Am. Archives, fourth series, vol. ii, p. 557-8. 

(a) " John Nordbekg was appointed lieutenant in the 60th regiment, 28th July, 
1758, and went on half pay at the peace of 17G3 ; he again joined the regiment 
29th March, 1775. He remained a prisoner until December 15, 1775, when it ap- 
pearing to the provincial congress, that his health was in such a state as that 
tenderness and humanity demanded his going to Great Britain for the restoration 
of his impaired constitution, and that he had behaved with the strictest honor to- 
wards the inhabitants of the American colonies as a soldier and a gentleman, he 
was permitted, in token of their respect, to proceed to England with such of his 
eft'ects as he chose to remove, and the people were recommended not to interrupt 
him. ***** His name ajjpears in the Army List of 1774, for the last 
time." — Col. Documents, etc., vol. vni, p. 579. 



CAPTAIN NORDBERG'S PETITON. 401 

could not enjoy a commission in England or Ereland. His 
Majesty was graciously pleased to give me the allowance for 
Fort George, 7 sliillings sterling per day, with liberty to live 
where I pleased in America, because the Fort has been abandoned 
this 8 year and only 2 men remain therefor to assist any express going 
between New York and Canada. I arrived here in New York last 
year in September, with intention to live in New York, as I 
heard nothing els than disharmony amongst Gentlemen which 
was not agreeable to my age, I resolved to go to Fort George, 
and live there in a little cottage as a Hermit where I was very 
happy for 6 months. 

The 12th of May last Mr, Romans ^ came and took possession 
of Fort George, Mr. Romans behaved very genteel and civil to 
me, I told tl'iat I did not belong to the army, and I maybe con- 
sidered as half pay officer or invalid, and convinced him that I 
was plagued with Gravell, Mr. Romatis gave me his passport to 
go to New Lebanon for to recover my health, and he told me 
that in regard to my age I may go Avhere I pleased. 

As I can't sell any bill for my subsistence, and I can't live 
upon wind and weather, I therefore beg and implore the most 
respectable Congress permission to go to England, and lentend 
to go to my native country. I could have gone away secret so 
well as some others have done, but I will not upon any account 
do such thing. 

I hope the most respectable will not do partially to refuse me, 
because Major Etherington, Captain Brown, Captain Kelly, 
which is in the army have been permitted to go to England, 
and it may happen they return here again on actual service, 
which old age and infirmities render me incapable oft". 

As it is the custom amongst the Christian Nations and the 
Turks, that they give subsistence to every Prisoner according to 
their rank, should the most respectable Congress have claim 
upon me to be a prisoner here, I hope they will give me my 

' Col. Arnold, writing to the Massachusetts committee of safety from Crown 
Point, May 19th, 1775, states that his last of the 14th inst., was by Mr. Romans, 
via New Haven. lie sends a return of cannon and ordnance stores, captured at 
Ticonderoga and Crown Point. He adds that it is impossible to repair the old 
fort at Ticonderoga, in which opinion he is joined by Mr. Romans, who is esteemed 
an able engineer. — Force' s American Archives, fourth series, vol. ii, p. 645. 

Comparing this date with that of the seizure of Fort George it would appear 
that Romans made no long tarry at the latter place, but pushed forward to meet 
the party at Ticonderoga. 

51 



402 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBUEY. 

subsistence from the 12 Mav last, according to my rank as 
captain. I implore the favour of the most respectable Congress, 
answer. I have the honor to remain with great respect, 
Gentlemen, Your most obedt. servant, 

John Nordbehg. 
New- York, december, 1775." 

Tradition does not identify any of the residents of the Queens- 
bury patent as connected with the seizure of the post at the head 
of Lake George, but a legend in the Parke family, on the south 
side of the river, associates the name of their ancestor with this 
event.^ It is supposed that Col. Romans was despatched by 
the authorities of Connecticut to accompany the northern ex- 
jicdition in the capacitj' of an engineer. Whether concerted or 
otherwise, it is presumed that reaching Fort Edward, he learned 
the condition of the fort at the head of Lake George, and em- 
ploying Parke as an assistant or volunteer, in the enterprise, 
with probably some other kindred spirits as the tradition states 
at Fort Edward, they went forward and took possession of the 
post as herein related. 

It has been stated that although the early settlers of this town, 
with trifling exceptions, were non-combatants, and that, not- 
withstanding their religious belief forbade their espousing sides 
in the struggle for independence, yet their sympathies were 
mostly with the rebels. Small cause had they for any enthu- 
siastic regard either way, for they were unscrupulously plundered 
and robbed by both sides, though most frequently by the illy 
disciplined, irresponsible squads of soldiers belonging to the 
armies of congress, in transit between the military posts of the 
frontier. 



' Across the river and nearly opposite the village of Sandy Hill, but quite a 
little distance from the bank of the stream in a sequestered nook, is a small burying' 
ground where many members of the Parke family are gathered. On one of the 
modest marble slabs here marking the resting place of the dead is one containing 
the following inscription, viz : 

In memory of 

DANIEL PARKS. 

who departed this life 

March the 3, 1818, aged 

78, one of the veterans of the 

revoluibionary war, he was 

the man that took the key 

from the British officer at 

Lake George in 1775. 



REVOLUTIONARY EXCITEMENT. 403 

The country was now fairly ablaze with the beacon lires of 
the Revolution. The eastern border towns of Charlotte county 
were the homes of the rebels who had taken forts Ticonderoga 
and Crown Point. Boston was environed by a rebel army. Com- 
mittees of safety were established in every district. Military 
companies suddenly sprung into being, minute men, and rangers 
were enrolled, old arms furbished up, new ones sought and pro- 
vided. A representative colonial assemblage convened at 
Albany, and on the 22d day of May was organized under the 
name of the provincial congress. From the minutes of its journal 
we learn that on the 24th of May, John Williams and William 
Marsh from Charlotte county, appeared with certificates that 
they had been duly appointed and were received as delegates 
thereto. 

As a curious fact attending the deliberations of this body, the 
form of oath administered to its members is appended herewith: 
'■*■ I do solemidy swear on the Holy Evangelists of Alraig-hty 
God, that I will at all times keep secret all such matters and 
things, as shall at any time be given in charge from the chair 
by order of this congress to be kept secret until leave shall be 
given from the chair, by order of this congress to reveal the 
same." 

To show the unsettled condition of alfairs in the county, in 
the month of June of this year William Duer,(rt) a gentleman 



(a) William Dueh was the son of John Duer one of the king's council for 
Antigua in the West Indies. He was born in England, 18th of March, 1747. He 
entered the British service in his IStli year as aid de camp to Lord Clive, fovernor 
general of India. On the death of his father he left the army and went to the 
West Indies to take possession of the estate left to him. In 17G8 he came to New 
York where he became acquainted with Lord Stirling, and Philip Schuyler and 
on the recommendation of the latter purchased a tract of land includiu"- tlie falls 
at Fort Miller (Washington co.), where he erected saw, grist and snuff mills and 
ultimately a powder mill. He also erected there a spacious mansion. He was 
soon after appointed colonel of militia, judge of the county court and held tliese 
offices until the Revolution. He was a member of the New York provincial 
congress, provincial convention, and was member of the committee of safety. Under 
the first constitution he was elected to the state senate, but before takin<>- his seat 
was chosen by the legislature a delegate to the continental congress. 37 July 
1779, he married Catherine eldest daughter of Ld. Stirling. He resid(!d afterwards at 
Albany with his fatlier-in-law, who was appointed commissary general of the north- 
ern department, but afterwards removed to Fishkill, where he remained vvitli his 
family until 178;i, when he returned to New York city. He was secretary of the 
board of commissioners of the treasury, whicli office he held until the board was 
superseded by the treasury department. He was afterwards member of the N 
Y. legislature and after the adoption of the constitution, assistant secretary of the 



404 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OP QUEENSBURY. 

of considerable prominence residing in the vicinity, wrote to the 
committee of safety, that certain lawless persons, mostly debtors, 
were assembling at Fort Edward to break up the courts of 
justice. Captain Edward Motte then en route with his company 
from Ticonderoga to Albany, fortunately happened along, and 
by his presence during the session of the court, prevented any 
further disturbance. The disaffected persons were mostly from 
the ISFew Hampshire Grants. 

A month later (July 15th), the same record states that Fort 
Edward was razed to the ground. By whom, or for what pur- 
pose, does not appear. 

By a letter addressed to the provincial congress, bearing date 
July 3d, respecting the defenses at the head of Lake George, 
it appears that Benjamin Hinman was then colonel and com- 
mandant of that post, and probably continued so for the re- 
mainder of the year, for so late as November 16th, mention is 
made of Capt. EK^azer Curtis, an old captain in Col. Hin- 
man's regiment, being stationed with his company at Fort 
Geori^e. 



treasury under Hamilton, in which office he continued until the government re- 
moved to Philadelphia. He became, next, president of a company for the manu- 
facture of woolen goods, which erected the first mill at Passaic falls, whence arose 
the present flourishing town of Patterson. At a later period he erected a cotton 
mill on the Bronx, Westchester co., which is believed to have been the first in 
this country. Having entered largely into speculations in public securities and 
the military tracts, he suffered heavy losses ; his property was sacrificed and he 
remained sometime without resources to support his family. He died 7 May, 1799, 
aged 52 years. — Knickerbocker Magazine, vol. xx, p. 95. 



^^ay?<2>c^^ ^^/^^^ 



DISTRIBUTION OF TROOPS, 405 




CHAPTER X. 

Campaigns of 1775-0 — Distribution op Troops in this Vicinity — 
Expedition to Canada — Appointment of Military and Civil 
Officers in Charlotte County — Appointment op a Commission 
TO VISIT Canada — .Town Records — The Jones Family — Flight 
of Sir John Johnson and his Retainers — Small Pox in the 
Army — Erection of Hospital at Lake George — Death of the 
Baron de Woedtke — Results op the Campaign — Threatened 
Invasion op Tories — Measures for Relief, and Disposition op 
Troops for the Winter. 

Celebration in honor of the capture of Ticonde- 
roga held by the vvhigs of the neighborhood, near 
the tavern in Kingsbury street, in the summer of 
1775, resulted in a wrangle, a quarrel, and fight. 
A bonfire that had been built for the occasion, was scattered 
and extinguished by the infuriated tories, and the whigs in that 
part of the town were driven from their houses, whither few of 
them returned, until the defeat and surrender of Burgoyne's 
army made this region an insecure abiding place for hot headed 
loyalists, the few of whom still remaining, escaped with such 
eftects as they could carry, to Cnnadn. 

General Philip Schuyler assumed charge of the northern de- 
partment in the month of June.^ On the first of July his first 
returns announce the following distribution of forces in this 
vicinity. Of Colonel Benj. Hinman's regiment at Ticonderoga, 
495; at Crown Point, 302; at the landing foot of Lake George, 
102; and at Fort George at the head of that lake, 101; of the 
Massachusetts bay troops, at Ticonderoga, 40; at Crown Point, 
109; and at Port George, 25; of the New York forces at the 
latter post, 205." In regard to the discipline maintained here, an 
idea may be gathered from the following extract of a letter from 
Schuyler to Gen. Washington dated July 18th, 1775. " About 

' Col. Hininan who was at Ticonderoga with four hundred Connc^cticut troops 
in June, 1775, assumed the <fencral command, but was shortly after suijerseded 
by Gen. Schuyler, who by arranjrement with Gen. Washington aud direction of 
congress took the command of the northern department, 

" Lossing's Life of Schuyler, vol. i, p. 343, 



406 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

ten last night, I arrived at the landing place, the north end 
of Lake George, a post occupied hy a captain and one hundred 
men. A sentinel, on being informed that I was in the boat, 
quitted his post to go and wake the guar^ consisting of three 
men, in which he had no success. I walked up and came to 
another, a sergeant's guard. Here the sentinel challenged, but 
suffered me to come up to him, the whole guard, like the first, 
being sound asleep." * 

It is quite probable that a considerable force was stationed 
here and at the head of the lake during the entire season. As 
late as the 13th of October tliere is record of a court martial 
held at Fort George at which Brig. Gen. Wooster presided.^ 

The American congress, partly it is presumed, with a hope to 
detach Canada from its allegiance to the mother country, and 
possibly in part retaliation for an attempt made by the governor 
of that province to raise a force of Indians and Canadians to 
harass our exposed frontiers, resolved to raise a body of two 
thousand men for the invasion of that province, which expedi- 
tion was to have been placed under the joint command of 
Schuyler and Montgomery. A second expedition was organized 
in New England, a hardy body of one thousand men, composed 
mostly of borderers, already inured to the hardships and dan- 
gers of the wilderness. This was entrusted to the command of 
Arnold, who forced his way through the unbroken forests, up 
the Kennebec, threading the wild passes and climbing the steep 
acclivities of the White mountain range ; and after surmounting 
these terrible obstacles with incredible suffering, finally effected 
a junction with Montgomery before Quebec. One after the other, 
the posts at Chambly, St. Johns, and Montreal had fallen, a 
large number of British oflicers including one general, also 
several hundred private soldiers had been made prisoners of 
war, and sent to New England, by the way of Lake Champlain. 
The first trophy received by the continental congress was the 
flag of the 7th regiment cai)tured at Chambly. 

But for the disaster at Quebec, the repulse of our troops, the 
death of Montgomery, and the final abandonment of the under- 
taking, it is just among the possibilities, that Canada might to- 
day have been a free and sovereign state of the Union. 

Notwithstanding the entire country was now embroiled in 



^ Losdny's Life of Schui/kr, vol. i, p. 398. 

■•' Id., p. 400. See also Waihiu (jton Correspondence, vol. i, p. 59. 



\ 



ARNOLD BEFORE QUEBEC. 407 

all the evil consequences and bitter asperities of a civil war, a 
leaning was still strongly manifested even among the partizans 
of the patriot cause, for a reconciliation with England. A cu- 
rious commentary on the political condition of the country, is 
furnished by the action of the provincial congress at the close of 
the year, during which such active exertions had been made, and 
such pronounced hostility had been exhibited to British rule. 

In provincial congress, December 13th, 1775, " Resolved, 
that it is the opinion of this congress, that none of the })eople 
of this colony have withdrawn their allegiance from his majesty, 
or desire to become independent of the crown of Great Britain, 
or to change the ancient form of government, under which this 
colony hath grown up from its infancy to its present state." 

The situation of the belligerents in this quarter at the begin- 
ning of the year 1776, was as follows : 

Arnold lay encamped before Quebec with a numerical, if not 
effective force of two thousand men, all of the intermediate 
posts having fallen into the possession of the American troops. 
In addition to the garrisons stationed at Crown Point, Ticon- 
deroga, and Fort George, a small earthwork was constructed 
at Summer-house point, on the Sacandaga river, where part 
of a regiment of continental troops were stationed until late in 
the summer following, when the post was abandoned. The 
object of this force was to prevent Indian aggression, and hold 
in check the tory influence then dominant in Johnstown. Steps 
were also taken early in the season to organize the militia of 
the county.^ 

At a general meeting of the county coraraitte of Charlotte 
county held January 25th, 1776, it was unanimously agreed that 
Dr. John Williams be recommended to the provincial congress 
of JSTew York for the command of the iirst battalion of the 
militia for this county; Mr. Alexander Campbell of Argyle 
township for lieutenant colonel, Messrs. Timotli}' Bewell of 

' To the Honorl Members of the Provincial Congress : 

Gentlemen : Having received the Resolves relating to the Rules and Orders for 
Regulating the Militia in this Colony, we thought proper to carry it into Execution 
with all Convenient Speed, and ordered a meeting of the CoXinty Committee Im- 
mediately. 

There being a Contention of part of this County in regard to Title of Land, (the 
New Hampshire Grants) And it was thought proper by the Committees on tlie 
Grants to divide the County into two Parts, as they Do not Choose to joyn the other 
part of the County ; which was agreed to by the other Committees : And Each part 
of the County to form One Regiment, and Recommend their Field Officers, to you 



408 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEEN SBURY. 

Fort Miller, and Mr. Alexander Webster of Black Creek for 
adjutant, and Mr. Samuel Fuller of Skeensborougli, quarter- 
master. At the same time and place, it was unanimously agreed 
that Dr. John "Williams, and Mr. Alexander Campbell should 
represent the county of Charlotte in provincial congress till the 
2d Tuesday in May next. 

It appears by the following memoranda found among the 
Wing papers, that the infant settlement this year began to feel 



desiring you will remit their commissions with all Convenient Speed, so that the 
Regiment may be formed as soon as Possible, In Case any Incursions may be 
made from Canada, as we are much Exposed to that Country. 

The following Gentlemen we reccommend for Commissions, they being Friends 
to the present Cause and have signed the General Association : 

Dr. John Williams, Colonel, Plait Smith, Esq., Lieut. Col., 

Messrs Nathan Ilawly and Mr. John Jones, Adjutant, 

Hamilton McColister, Majors, Mr. Seth Sherwood, Quarter Master. 

Likewise the names of the inferior Officers in each district. 

Distnct of White Creek. 
Ebt^nezer Clark, Esq., Captain, Edward Savage, 2d Lieut., 

Charles Hutchinson, 1st Lieut., Daniel McClary, Ensign. 

Argyle : 
Alexr Campbell, Capt., Peter Gilchrist, 2d Lieut., 

Saml Paine, 1st Lieut., John McDougall, Ensign. 

Scheensburgh District : 
Jeremh Burroughs, Capt., Elisha Tousea, 2d Lieut., 

Levi Stockwell, 1st Lieut., Silas Granger, Ensign. 

Black Creek District : 

Alexr Webster, Capt., George McKnight, 2d Lieut., 

John Hamilton, 1st Lieut., Samuel Crosett, Ensign. 

Kingsbury District : 
Asa Richardson, Capt., Neherali Sealey, 2d Lieut., 

Adiel Sherwood, 1st Lieut., Samuel Harris, Ensign.' 

Signed by order of Committee, 

SETH SHERWOOD, Chairman. 
County Charlotte, Dorsett, 21st Sept., 1775. 
Commissions issued Sept. 29th, 1775. 

In addition to the foregoing, warrants wen; issued on the 29th of June to * 
Jose])h McCracken, Capt., John Barnes, 2d Lieut. 

Moses Martin, 1st Lieut., 



> Calendar of N. Y. Hist. MSS. liev. Papers, vol. i, p. 148. 

2 Idem., p. 100. 

Sealy and Harris are supposed to have been residents of Queensbury. 



THE BURDENS OF WAR. 



409 



the burdens of war, in the way of depredations and unsatisfied 
requisitions, from wandering and irresponsible parties of soldiery. 

Paper No. 1. 

p]ndorsed, " Capt. Lammar's Account, 

and account of things his company stole." 
" 1776. Stolen, taken and carried out of my house, March 11th, by 
Capt. Lammar's company. 

£. s . d. 

One blue Broadcloath Jactcoat, at 2. — . 

One blue quilted petticoat, @ — . 14. 

One woolen checked shirt, @ 

One silk handkerchief, @ 

One pewter basin, @ 

13 Dunghill fowls, @ 



One short stag goad @ — . 



17^ 
5. 
4. 

18. 
4. 



Capt. Lammar, Dr. "" 

To one pleasure slay steel shod, painted 
green outside, red inside, which he carried 
away with him and never returned. 



£. 5. 2. 

£ 7. 

Abraham Wing. 



Paper No. 2. 
Containing Capt. Lamar's receipt, and Abraham Wing's affidavit in re- 
lation thereto. 

" I hereby certify that Mr. Abraham Wing's slay was hired for the use 
of my company from the 13th of March to the first of April, 1776, when 
the ice-breaking up, I was obliged to leave her in the care of Mr. Belton 
at Willsborough on Lake Champlain. 

" Marien Lamar 
Capt. 1, P. B." 
" I do most solemnly affirm that I never received the slay mentioned 
within, which was taken from me by Capt. Lamar for the use of the army, 
nor have I ever received any compensation for the same, or any other 
person whatever on my account, and that the slay was worth at that time 
in hard cash, seven pounds. 

"Washington] " Abraham Wing, 

County \ ■"6th March, 1786. 

" This day the above signed Abraham Wing appeared before me and 

affirmed to the truth, of the same. 

" Adiel Sherwood, Jus Pe." 
52 



410 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

Paper No. 3. 
Being a military order and receipt for the delivery of certain property, 
on a requisition. 
" To Mr. Wyng : 

" Sir, Plese deliver that gang of saws to the bearer, to be forwarded to 
Chesyers,' and take his I'eceipt therefor, on the back of this order. 
" Fort George, July ye 18th. 1776. 

Nath'l Buell, 
Ast. D. Qr. Mr. Gen'l. 
Endorsement. 
July the 8th. Received the full contents of the within order, being 15 
saws, with their stearups on. 

Receive pr. me. 
1776. Eben'r Ashmun. 

At the suggestion of Gen. Schuyler, congress had appointed 
three commissioners, invested with power equivalent to 
ministers plenipotentiar}', instructed to proceed to Canada 
and negotiate with the authorities and people of that province. 
These commissioners w^ere of commanding eminence and con- 
sideration in the councils of the new republic, and much was 
expected from their influence and efforts, hopes speedily doomed 
to frustration and disappointment. Those commissioners were 
Dr. Benjamin Franklin, of Pennsylvania, Samuel Chase and 
Charles Carroll, of Maryland. They were accompanied by 
John Carroll (brother of the commissioner), an eminent priest 
of the Roman Catholic church, afterwards first archbishop of 
Baltimore. Besides acting as interpreter to the commission, 
it was expected that the influence of this prelate would be 
potent and controlling with the large body of French Catholics 
in Canada to induce them to espouse the cause of the colonists. 



' Chcsire's mill to whicli tlioso saws were removed, it is supposed was situated 
on Fort Edward creek in Kinofsbury. In a communication from General Gates 
to Gen. Waterbury dated Ticonderoga July lotli, 1776, he says, "if we make our 
stand at the place proposed, it is essential that the road from Chehdre's to Fort 
Edward be immediately repaired and rendered easy for carriages. * * — Force's 
American Archives, fifth series, vol. i, p. 358. 

" You will likewise post three companies of a regiment, with a field officer at 
Ghcsliire's mill." 

" Agreeably to your directions, I have ordered Captain Veeder and his company 
to the saw mill at Cheshire's." 

Richard Varick to Gen. Gates, 

Albany, Oct. 14, 177G. 

Idem, vol. ii, p. 1037. 



COMMISSIONERS TO CANADA. 411 

The delegation left Philadelphia late in March, 1776. At 
Brunswick, N. J., they were joined by the Baron de Woedtke, 
a Prussian officer of distinction, formerly a major on the per- 
sonal staff of Frederic the great, and now seeking service in the 
American armies. At New York they were entertained by 
Brigadier General Stirling, who furnished a sloop for their con- 
veyance up the river. On their route they examined the various 
defenses along the Hudson, which were found to be quite in- 
adequate for safety and protection. On the 7th of April they 
landed at Albany, where they were met and entertained by 
Gen. Schuyler. Here Gen. Thomas was added to the party, 
and accompanied by their host and hostess they proceeded on 
the 9th to Fish Creek,^ where General Schuyler's country seat 
and residence was situated. 

Here, by reason of inclement weather the party made quite a 
halt. On the 16th, snow being still on the ground, the priest 
and commissioners departed for Fort Edward, which it is 
presumed they reached the same day. The two generals had 
already gone forward a day or two before. One of the party 
kept a journal from which, the following extract is made : 

" 18th. We set off for "Wing's tavern about twelve o'clock 
this day, and reached Fort George about two o'clock ; the dis- 
tance is about eight miles and a half; 3''ou cannot discover the 
lake until you come to the heights surrounding it, the descent 
from which to the lake i.s nearly a mile ; from these heights 
you have a beautiful view of the lake for fifteen miles down it." ^ 

The roads are spoken of as being in a most wretched con- 
dition, which considering the season of the year is not sur- 
prising. On the 19th, the ice still floating in the lake, they 
embarked in a strong batteau which had been prepared for 
them by the orders of General Schuyler, and in 36 hours they 
reached the lower end of the lake. 

The town record for 1776 exhibits but little change from the 
preceding year. The following is a transcript of the proceed- 
ings : 

"At an annual town meeting held in Queensbury on Tues- 
day ye 2nd day of May, 1776, for the township of Queensbury. 

1. Voted. Abraham Wing, Moderator. 

2. Voted. Asaph Putnam, Town Clerk. 

' Now Schuylerville, N. Y. 
^ Carroll's Journal, p. 49. 



412 



HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 



3. Voted. 

4. Voted. 

5. Voted. 

6. Voted. 

7. Voted. 

8. Voted. 

9. Voted. 

10. Voted. 

11. Voted. 

12. Voted. 

13. Voted. 

14. Voted. 

15. Voted. 

16. Voted. 



17. Voted. 



Abraham Wing, Supervisor. 

Aeaph Putnam, Constable. 

Nebemiah Seal}^, Constable. 

Daniel Jones, Constable. 

Ebenezer Fuller, Constable. 

Nehemiah Sealy, and Benjamin Wing, As- 
sessors. 

Abraham Wing, Path Master. 

Benedict Brown, Path Master. 

Ichabod Merrittand Neliemiah Sealy, Overseers 
of the Poor. 

Benjamin Wing, Collector. 

Abraham Wing, Town Treasurer. 

Abraham Wing, Keeper of the Pound. 

Ichabod Merritt, and Asaph Putnam, viewers 
offence and prisers of damage. 

Abraham Wing, Asaph Putnam and Nehemiah 
Sealy, are appointed to enspect all persons 
that shall hunt the Deer in Queensbury, for 
the year ensuing. 

That any person that shall harbor or entertain 
or assist any person or persons from any 
County to hunt or kill any fawn, buck or deer 
in Queensbury, in ye year ensuing shall 
Forfeit and pay to the treasury the Sum of 
five Pounds." 



The Daniel Jones here mentioned and a sketch of whom is 
elsewhere given was a son-in-law of Abraham Wing, and a 
brother of David Jones, whose name has become historical 
from association with the Jane McCrea massacre. The 
brothers were mill-wrights, and Daniel as already shown was 
largely interested in the mills at this point. The family were 
among the earliest settlers of Kiiigsbury patent and owned large 
and valuable possessions in the north part of that town, which 
were afterwards sequestrated by the commission of forfeitures. 

Their house was for a short time made the head quarters of 
Burgoyne's army during the following year. 

Thus it will be seen that even among the peaeel'ul Friends 
of Queensbury the elements of discord were early sown, for 
while the elder Wing and James Higson, another son-in-law, 



ESCAPE OF SIR JOHN JOPINSON. 413 

were undoubted patriots, the Jones family were loyalists to the 
bitter end, and their persuasions no doubt had great weight in 
influencing some of the younger scions of the family to take 
sides with the royal cause. None of the Wing or other leading 
families of the settlement at the Corners, ever took arms on 
either side. 

In the month of May, 1776,^ General Schuyler despatched 
Col. Dayton with a portion of his regiment to Johnstown, to 
arrest Sir John Johnson, who, it was alleged, had broken his 
parole. The latter, being notified of his danger by some Albany 
loyalists, took refuge in flight ; and with a large number of his 
dependents and retainers, made their escape down the valley of 
the Saeandaga to the Hudson, and thence up the west branch 
of that stream, skirting around the base of Crane's mountain 
through the town of Johnsburgh, and thence a due northerly 
course through the tangle of lake, forest, mountain, and stream 
now known as the Adirondac wilderness f and after nineteen 
days of severe toil, hardship, and suffering, reached the St. 
Lawrence river at a point considerably above Montreal, whence 
they made their escape into Canada, where they met with a 
cordial welcome, and received all needed assistance. He shortly 
after received a commission as colonel, and organized a regi- 
ment composed of his own followers, and tory refugees, with 
which the province was already swarming. It was at first called 
the Royal Greens, but it was afterwards famous in the annals 
of the border warfare of the period, as " the Johnson Greens." 

On the 7th of July, a council of general officers consisting 
of Schuyler, Gates, Sullivan, Arnold andWoedtke, pronounced 
the position at Crown Point insecure and untenable. Twenty- 
one inferior officers, among whom were Stark, Poor, and Max- 
well, remonstrated against this view. 

On the 12th of July, General Gates assumed the command 
of the northern army,^ making his head quarters at Ticon- 

' Stone's Life of Brant (first edition), vol. i, p. 144. 

^Lossinfif, in his Life of Selmyler, vol. i, p. 71, makes the route of Sir John's 
escape by the way of Schroou river and lake, but the local tradition of the in- 
habitants determines it as recorded in the text. 

^ " The appointment of Gates to the command of this department, was from the 
first unacceptable to the officers of New York, nor was his own course conciliating 
towards them. In the course of the present summer, it was reported to Lieutenant 
Colonel Gansev(}ort, a brave, and deservedly popular officer belonging to the re- 
giment of Col. Van Schaick, and, then in command of Fort George, at the head 
of the lake of that name, that the general had spoken disrespectfully of that regi 



414 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OP QUEENSBURY. 

deroga. His first attention was directed to the disposal and 
care of the hundreds of invalid troops then pouring back from 
Canada, the large proportion of whom were suifering from 
small pox,' In a communication from him to General Wash- 
ington, dated at Ticonderoga, July 28th, he says : " everything 
at)out this army is infected with the pestilence; the clothes, 
the blankets, the air, and the ground they walk upon. To put 
this evil from us, a general hospital is established at Fort 
George, where there are now between two and three thousand 
sick, and where every infected person is immediately sent. 
But this care and caution have not effectually destroyed the 
disease here ; it is, notwithstanding, continually breaking out." ^ 

A spacious building, known in later years as the long house, 
was at this time erected for the purposes of a hospital on the 
flat below the outworks of Fort George. In addition tents in 
considerable numbers, and temporary barracks were put up 
for the accommodation of the sick, who were daily transported 
hither from the overcrowded, and pestilential wards and 
barracks at the lower end of the lake. 

In a letter from Col. Trumbull, adjutant general of the 
northern department, to Col. Gansevoort on the 24th of July, 
he communicates the fact that a large hospital had been erected 
at the head of Lake George, where three thousand smallpox 
cases had been brought from our garrisons at Ticonderoga and 
Crown Point. This fearful pestilence, he alleges, was purposely 
introduced through private inoculation, by a villain calling him- 
self Doctor Barker.^ 



ment, and also of the regiments of Colonels Wynkoop and Fisher. His letters to 
Colonel (iansevoort were unnecessarily harsh and pragmatical, so much so as 
justly to give offence. Irritated by such treatment, Gansevoort wrote a spirited 
letter to Gates, referring to several matters in which he had been aggrieved by 
the letters and conversations of that officer. He requested a court of inquiry, and 
avowed his determination, with the leave of the general, to relincjuish the command 
of the post." — Stone's Life of Brant, vol. i, p. 162, note. On the 30th of July, 
Peter Gansevoort, in a letter to John McKesson, signs himself, " Lt. Colonel, com- 
manding Fort George." 

' " The annals of disastrous war, scarce present a more deplorable picture than 
that exhibited by the Americans esca])ing from Canada. In addition to the snuill 
pox, the army had been afflicted by otlicr diseases, generated by exposure, desti- 
tution, and laxity of discipline. Fleets of boats came up the lake, freighted with 
the sick and dying ; and even those reported from day to day fit for duty, pre- 
sented but the appearance of a haggard skeleton of an army." — Stone's Life of 
Brant, vol. i, p. 1G4. 

"Force's Am. Arcldven, fifth series, vol. i, p. 050-1. 

3 As the disease had already thoroughly pervaded the army in Canada ; making 



INSUFFICIENT MEDICAL SUPPLIES. 415 

The large and extensive hospital at Lake George, was com- 
mitted to the charge of Dr. Jonathan Potts,* who subsequently 
held a coramandhig position in the medical ranks of the army, 
and who, according to the scant information at hand concerning 
him, was a gentleman of culture, eminent in his profession, 
and of good administrative ability.^ Under his management, 
the desperate condition of affairs at the head of the lake began 
to amend, and to take on habits of method and regularity. 
Notwithstanding the want of medicines and hospital supplies 
of which the doctor repeatedly complains in his reports and 
correspondence, the number of deaths is small as compared to 
the number of cases received. The following is a summary of 
the returns for the fortnight ending the 26th July. Admitted 
1497. Discharged 439. Died 51. Deserted 3, Remaining 
1004. Detailed as nurses 106. Total 1110.^ Dr. McCrea, 
surgeon in Van Schaick's Albany regiment is mentioned as 
being on duty during this period. Among those who died 
here at that time, was brigadier general, the Baron de Woedtke, 
whose remains repose in an unknown grave somewhere among 
the plains surrounding the moss grown ruins of Fort George. (a) 
Major Hubby of the baron's personal staff, made an inventory 
of his effects, and Col. De Haas of the 1st Pennsylvania 
Battalion, was appointed administrator of his estate. 

Among the patients at the hospital during this period was 
the afterward famous Gen. James Wilkinson ; who was stricken 

its appearance simultaneously at the southern forts on the lake ; and, as inocula- 
tion was the universal practice of the day, rigorously observed at all the military 
posts, it is difficult to comprehend at this distance of time, wherein Doctor Barker 
was specially to blame. He was arrested and sent to Albany. 

' He petitions congress, 29th April, 1796, for appointment as director of hospital 
to be erected in Canada. — Force's Am. Archives, 4th series, vol. v, p. 1118. At 
this time Dr. John Morgan was director general of the hospitals. 

" Thursday, June 6th, 1776. In Continental Congress. " Resolved, That Dr. 
Jonatliaii Potts be employed as a physician and surgeon in the Canada Depart- 
ment, or at Lake George, as the general shall direct ; but that this api)oiutment 
shall not supersede Dr. Stringer." — Force's Am. Archives, fourth series, vol. v, 
p. 1118. 

^ Idem, fifth series, vol. i, p. 857. 

(a)" The Bakon de Woedtke, mentioned above, had been for many years an 
officer in the army of the king of Prussia, and had risen to the rank of major. Coming 
to Philadelphia, with strong letters of recommendation to Dr. Franklin from per- 
sons of eminence in Paris he was appointed by congress a brigadier general on 
the 16th of March, and ordered to Canada. He died at Lake George about three 
weeks after the above council was held at Crown Point, (July 7th), and was buried 
with the honors due to his rank." — Spark's Life and Writings of Washington, 
vol. IV, p. 6, note. 



416 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEEN SBURY. 

down with a typhus fever which " swept off" over one thousand 
of our troopsj" and notwithstanding the personal attendance of 
Doctor Jonathan Potts, the surgeon general, he says, I was con- 
signed to my grave and a coffin was prepared for my accommo- 
dation." He however recovered and survived to fill a con- 
spicuous place in the annals of the country.^ 

On the 18th of September, Major Carnes at Fort George, 
reports to General Gates that the pestilence is abating.^ 

The small pox had more than decimated the small force with 
which Arnold had held the English garrison of Quebec at bay. 
This now being strengthened by fresh auxiliaries and supplies, 
he was forced to retire from one stronghold to another, until 
the retreating column was finally intrenched at Ticonderoga. 
This retreat had been managed in a most masterly and skillful 
manner by Gen. Sullivan.^ The chain of disasters linked with 
this campaign, was supplemented by a triumph which seemed 
to give a seal of success to the British arms. The early summer 
months had been diligently employed by Gen. Carleton in the 
preparation of a powerful flotilla on Lake Champlain,^ which 
now seemed to have been summoned into existence as if by 
magic. Two spirited naval engagements succeeded on the 11th 
and 13th of October, which were fought with desperate bravery, 
but which resulted in the " defeat of Arnold, the annihilation of 
his flotilla, and the possession of the lake and Crown Point by 
the foe."' 

The rumors of a tory conspiracy in and about the Hellebe7'g, 
and a threatened invasion of the forts at the north, occasioned 
the recall of Col. Van Ness's regiment to Fort Edward this 
month,^ and the forwarding of recruits to Skenesboro and Fort 
George. For the same reason Col. Dayton's regiment had been 
previously ordered to Fort George without delay. 



'See Wilkinson's Memoirs, vol. i, p. 86. 

^Force's Am. Archives, fifth series, vol. i, p. 388. 

'" General Sullivan, with hia usual activity and alertness, collected together a 
debilitated, dispirited army, tried the strength of the enemy, who were at least 
four to one, and performed one of the most remarkable retreats that was ever 
known. No jjcrson who was not present can conceive a tenth part of the dillicul- 
ties attending it ; the enemy at our heels, 3000 of our men sick of the small pox 
and those who were most healthy like so many walking apparitions." — Force's 
Am. Archives, fifth series, vol. i, p. 339. 

* Stedvian's American War, vol. i, p. 252. 

' Stone's Life of Brant, vol. i, p. 173. 

" Rev. Papers, vol. i, p. 512. 



MIERICAN DISASTERS. 417 

The campaign of 1776 had been peculiarly disastrous to the 
American arms. In addition to the severe losses at the north, 
the expulsion of our troops from Canada, the defeat of Arnold, 
the capture of Lake Champlain with one of its most important 
southern out posts, there followed in rapid sequence the battle 
of Long Island, with its severe loss of upwards of 2000 killed and 
taken prisoners, among whom were three of our ablest generals, 
namely Stirling, Sullivan, and Woodhull; the British occupation 
of New York city, and capture of nearly all the military stores 
belonging to that department ; the drawn battle of White Plains 
which was tantamount to a defeat ; the fall of Forts "Washington 
and Lee; the seizure and occupancy of Rhode Island; and the 
general feeling of doubt, distrust, and dismay, prevailing among 
the militia whose term of service was nearly expired, cast a dark 
shadow of gloom over the close of the year, relieved only by the 
brilliant success at Trenton, and the promulgation of that magna 
charta of our liberties, the declaration of independence.^ 

Carleton, after a brief occupancy of Crown Point retired with 
his forces to Canada, without a single blow to rivet his conquest. 

Nov. 9th, Col. Gansevoort, according to General Gates's state- 
ment, had 231 men and officers fit for duty at Fort George.^ 
Three weeks previously, 688 barrels of flour were reported in 
store at that post. 

In the same month. Gen. Schuyler, who seems to have re- 
sumed command in the northern deparmeut, announces his in- 
tention to have 400 troops at Fort George for the winter ; ^ asks 
"that a sufficiency of pitch, oakum, and whatever may be ne- 
cessary for building and repairing vessels, floating batteries or 
batteaux be collected and carried to Fort George, Fort Ann, 
Skenesboro and Schenectady in the course of winter.''^ In a 
letter to Congress dated 30th Dec, he says, " it is therefore 
of importance that the garrison should be strengthened, and I 
have therefore repeated my former applications for assistance 
to the eastern states. Those of Van Schaick's, and Gansevoort's 
regiments that are raised, are under orders to march to Fort 



^ The motion for the Declaration of Independence was submitted to congress 
by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia on the 7th of June, 1776, and the declaration 
itself solemnly adopted by that body July 4th, ensuing. 

^ Force's American Archives, fifth series, vol. iii, p. 033. 

= Idem, p. 641. 

* Losdng's Life of Schuyler, vol. ii, p. 147. 
53 



418 



HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBTJRY. 



Edward, Fort George, Chesire's, and Skeensborough, but I fear 
the garrisons of those places (Pennsylvania troops), will have 
left them before the relief gets there, which is detained thro' 
the want of blankets, which I am trying to collect from the in- 
habitants in this city, and county." ^ 

I Losdng'a Life of Schuyler, p. 157. 




TORT ACTIVITT. 419 




CHAPTER XL 

Campaign of 1777 — Movements op the Tories — Action at 
Sabbath Day Point — General Hospital at Lake George — 
New York declares Itself a Free and Independent State — 
Tories arrested near Luzerne — Adventures of William 
RoBARDS and Companions — The Parks Massacre at South 
Glen's Falls — Captivity, Escape and Adventures of Isaac 
Parks — The Bradshaws and Bakers of Sandy Hill — Pre- 
parations FOR Burgoyne's Advance. 

I'N injudicious, unsettled, and vacillating policy cha- 
racterized tlie administration of the affairs of the 
northern department, which was exhibited in the 
frequent change of its commanding officers ; as well 
in untimely and unjust criticisms upon their course and con- 
duct during the campaign of 1777. 

The opening of the year found General Schuyler in charge. 
To his untiring activity, able executive qualifications, exalted 
patriotism, and sterling good sense, the first great successes of 
the war are really to be credited. His hearty dislike of the 
Yankees, which he was at no pains to conceal, was doubtless 
fostered, if not engendered by the Vermont controversy, which 
on the 15th of January, found expression at a convention of 
delegates gathered at Westminster, in a declaration of inde- 
pendence, and a resolution that the new state should be called 
New Connecticut.^ 

An unwonted and general activity pervaded all the tory set- 
tlements and hamlets from the Mohawk to the St. Lawrence. 
Great expectations were entertained by the numerous royalists 
of the border counties, respecting the long talked of invasion 
from the north, and a disposition was manifested to cooperate 
with the British army so soon as it should make its appearance. 

Gen. Anthony Wayne, then in command at Ticonderoga 
writes to Gen. Schuyler on the 13th of February,^ that two 

' Doc. Hist. N. ¥., vol. iv, p. 930, note. See also p. 942, note. 
^ Rev. Papers, vol. i, p. 633. 

So early as the middle of February, a deputation of Indians was sent southward 
from Canada through the wilderness west of Lake Champlain, to obtain informa- 



420 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OP QUEENSBURY. 

French deserters from Canada, just brouglit in by some scouts, 
report a large party of hostile Indians on the way to a foray 
along the northern border. 

In the early spring, a sanguinary engagement was had be- 
tween a scout of fifty Americans and eighty Indians and tories 
at Sabbath-day point on Lake George, in which the latter suf- 
fered a loss in killed and wounded of half their number.^ 

According to evidence adduced in one of the many courts 
martial held at this time, it appears that a general uprising of 
the tory element, and a raid toward Fort George by the way of 
Jessup's patent was contemplated and arranged for the early 
spring of this year,^ a part of which plan, as will presently be 
seen, was but too faithfully carried out. 

Oh the 25th of March, Gen. Schuyler, by order of congress, 
was superseded by Gen. Gates, his inferior in rank, and whose 
imperious manner, arrogant temper, and overbearing, uncon- 
ciliating disposition, had made him generally unpopular, and 
especially disliked by the New York troops, for whom, proba- 
bly by reason of his rivalry with Gen. Schuyler, he seemed 
to have a special antipathy. During the brief duration of his 
command, no changes or events of note transpired within his 
department. On the 22d of May, without any apparent motive 
or expressed reason, the command of the northern department 
was again committed to General Schuyler whose head-quarters 
at this time, and for seven weeks following, were in Albany. 

The general hospital of the northern department, which for 
a time, during the prevalence of small pox at the head of Lake 
George the previous year, had been established at Mount Inde- 

tion in relation to Gen. Howe's movements. They returned witli prisoners from 
■whom was first learned the disasters of the British at Trenton — Lossing's Life of 
Schuyler, vol. ii, p. 195. 

' Neilson's Burgoym's Gampnign, p. 85. 

" Capt. Alexander Baldwin of the independent company of rangers beinj^ exa- 
mined says, that on the 20th day of March last, he was taken prisoner with seven- 
teen others at Sabbath-day point by Capt. M'Kay and a party of Indians; that 
they were conducted thro' the wood to Montreal, and obliged to carry the packs 
of the Indians, and upon their arrival thero were confined in the Recollec church 
wliere they remained about six weeks. That while there, they were every day 
insulted by John Cobliam, Thomas Mann, David Jones,' Ebenezer Jessup,* and 
divers otiiers all Americans who had gone over to the enemy." — Rev. Papers, vol. 
II, p. 320. 

" Eev. Papers, vol. ii, p. 219. 

> The betrothed of Jane McCrea. 

"^ Que of the proprietors of the Jessup's patent at Luzerne which was afterwards confiscated. 



NEW YORK DECLARED A FREE STATE. 421 

pendence, was by the order of Gen. Schuyler, early in the spring 
of the year transferred to the head of Lake George.^ 

In the convention of the representatives of the state of New 
York held at Kingston on the 20th of April, the colony of Kew 
York is formally declared a free and independent state. Among 
other provisions to meet the new order of things, it was deter- 
mined that the assembly should consist of at least seventy 
members, of which the county of Charlotte should be entitled 
to four. 

In May the movements of the tories became bold, and une- 
quivocal. On the 6th of the month Col. Gordon of Ballston 
arrested a party of 31 tories in arms on their way from Ballston 
to Crown Point. They were taken about twenty miles north of 
Ballston near or on Jessup's patent now the town of Luzerne. 
They were tried by court martial and fined fifteen dollars each. 
It appeared in evidence on the trial, that they were on their 
way to join the enemy at Crown Point, to avoid taking the oath 
of allegiance to congress. 

We now come to the narration of the personal adventures of 
several of the residents of this town who were made prisoners 
during this campaign by the wandering bands of tories and 
Indians who continually infested this region until after Bur- 
goyne's surrender. Among the papers on file in the state 
archives, is the following : 

" Ezekiel Roberts of Saratoga district, states that in August, 
1776,^ he engaged as sergeant in Capt. Baldwin's company of 
rangers; was taken prisoner 19th May, 1777, and remained 
until December [when he was paroled and sent home with 
other prisoners by Gov. Carleton]. In May, 1780, was in- 
formed by Gov. Clinton that he was exchanged and discharged 
from his parole. Went over Lake George by order of his 
excellency in pursuit of Sir John Johnson, and soon after 
appointed lieutenant in the state levies, and again taken 
prisoner when under the command of Capt. Sherwood at Fort 
Ann, 10th Oct., 1780 ; remained two years in confinement, and 
then made his escape. Has a wife and two children for whose 
support he was obliged to contract debts. Is now destitute of 

' As early as January 8th, Col. Van Scliaick, still in command at that post, stated 
in an official communication, that " a surgeon ought to be appointed without the 
least loss of time, and sent to me that I may forward him to Fort George where 
part of the regiment is stationed." — liev. Papers, vol. ii, p. 23. 

' From Dr. E. B. O'Callaghan. 



422 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

every thing. Prays for relief in a petition to the legislature, 
January 20th, 1783." 

Ezekiel Roberts was a brother ofWilliam Robards who fills 
so large a space in the early records of the town. He with 
Andrew Fuller his wife's brother and James Higson^ an un- 
compromising whig, a son-in-law of Abraham "Wing, were cap- 
tured while preparing to go a fishing on Lake George. 

They were carried to Canada and imprisoned. While in 
jail Robards was visited by some gentlemen, who wished him 
to give his parole that he would not escape and they would 
give him the jail liberties. He refused, saying that his family 
needed his services, and if there was any chance of his getting 
home, he should make the attempt. In consequence of this 
declaration, he had a strict guard placed over him, being con- 
fined in a room with another, a British deserter, and through 
the day an armed sentry was stationed in the room to watch 
their movements. The gentlemen who visited Robards were so 
well pleased with his spirit and nice sense of honor, that they fre- 
quently sent him wine and delicacies from their tables. While the 
sentry was out to his meals, the prisoners, being in some way 
cognizant or suspicious that a window was boarded up in the 
room, amused themselves by throwing sticks of firewood against 
the walls, until the locality of the window was determined, and 
it was shortly ascertained also that there was no intervening 
bars or bolts to prevent their escape. Taking turns night after 
night in cutting away the boards cautiously and carefully, with 
which the window was ceiled, secreting and disposing of the 
chips and shavings thus made, they at length achieved their 
purpose, and one day, while the guard was at dinner, the 
boarding was removed, and the deserter first clambered out. 
Robards, being lithe, supple, and active, jumped from the 
window, clearing the stockade which surrounded the building, 
and alighted in one of the streets of the French city of Montreal, 
where they had been imprisoned. They were fired at by the 
guards on duty as they ran, the Canadians on the street cheering 
and swearing to encourage the fugitives. The guards had to 
go around on the opposite side of the building, and open the 
gates before they could follow in pursuit. 

' James Higson was an intimate friend of all the Widow Jones's sons, particu- 
larly David, with whom ho frequently hunted. Higson had an interest in the 
mills at Wing's falls. 



WILLIAM ROBARDS'S ESCAPE FROM CANADA. 423 

In the mean time, guided by some sympathizing spectators, 
Robards and his companion ran along through the suburbs, 
gaining the city wall, which they scaled at a favoring point, and 
made their escape to the woods. The deserter soon gave out, 
grew eick and tired of the adventure, and concluded to return 
and surrender himself, leaving Robards to make his way alone. 
He traveled by night, guiding his course by the stars, and lay 
secreted by day. At length he came to a place by the shore 
of the lake where a rock jutted out above the water having a 
cave or recess beneath. Here he took refuge and rested a day 
or two. During this interval, he was suddenly aroused from a 
deep sleep by an Indian yell, and, apprehending pursuit, he 
sprang out from his place of concealment, and looking up, saw 
an Indian standing on the verge of the cliff above him, making 
signals to a companion standing on a point of land in the dis- 
tance, on the other side of the lake. Fortunately the savages 
did not discover him. At length, after many nights' wandering, 
he was fortunate enough to come accross a canoe and pair of 
paddles, which he unhesitatingly appropriated, and from that 
time forth his progress was more rapid and satisfactory. 

One day, his brother Ezekiel Robards then living in Queens- 
bury, proposed to one of his neighbors to go up to Lake George 
for the purpose of fishing, and also to take a sharp look, to see 
if any tories or Indians were about. "While fishing near the 
mouth of Yan Wormer's bay ^ they saw a small object in the 
distance on the lake, which approaching them, gradually be- 
came more thoroughly defined, and, as it drew near, Ezekiel 
exclaimed, "Its William I know by his motions." And so it 
proved. They returned together without any long delay, and, 
as they neared their home, Ezekiel told William to stay back in 

' Jacob Van Wonner, after whom this bay was named, was one of the earliest 
settlers in the town of Fort Ann. After the revolutionary war, he experienced 
religion, and in one of his public confessions at prayer or conference meeting, 
acknowledged to having killed three men more than the circumstances would 
justify. It is proper to premise that he was a man of stalwart, and symmetrical 
as well as gigantic proportions. Before going into the battle of Bunker's Hill, he 
made himself a long handled tomahawk, and to quote his own confession ; " I 
sdruck to der right, und I sdruck to der left, und I killed my dwendies, und dat 
.vas all right ; put von poor fellow drew down his arms, und gried vor gwarter ; 
but I vos so mat mit der viten dat I kills him, und dat vos murder. Und after 
dat I kills a man down der Hutson river, und dat vos murder ; und ven Bur- 
goyne mit his army crossed der river at Fort ' iller, I shoots a Britisher dat vos 
in shwimmin in der river ; und dat vos murder ; und dat vos all I murdered ; der 
rest vos killed in fair fight." 



424 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

the edge of the woods, while he went forward and broke the 
news to his wife. The latter was carrying a plate of butter from 
the spring house, or out door cellar, and as Ezekiel approached, 
he accosted her, saying, " Phebe, I've got good news for you, 
I've heard from William." She staggered back with the shock 
of emotion, as if she had been struck, exclaiming, "if you have 
heard from him, you have seen him," and sank to the ground 
in a dead faint. ^ 

We next come to the consideration of the Parks narrative. 
It is a family tradition, strongly corroborated by concurrent 
events, and also by corresponding traditions in neighboring 
families, and it is given here simply for what it is worth, leaving 
it to the candid and impartial reader, who has no selfish ends 
to serve, to weigh and estimate fairly the merits of the story. 
The connection of the Parks family with the Glen patent on 
the south side of the river from Glen's Falls village, has already 
been narrated, the indubitable proof of which, lends almost con- 
clusive testimony to the truth of this narrative. 

" There was, in the British army,^ a captain by the name of 
Daniel Parks, who took an active part in quelling and keeping 
in subjection, the savage, original inhabitants of the American 
continent long before the Revolution, who lived and died in 
some one of the southern states, probably in Virginia, and who 
had a son by the name of Daniel Parks. The latter removed 
and settled in Salisbury, Conn., where he resided till within a 
few years of the Revolution, when he emigrated to Glen's Falls, 
N. Y., where he purchased a tract of eight hundred acres of 
land, situated along the south bank of the Hudson's river, and 
settled and built the first mills at that place. About the year 
1777, while the revolutionary war was in progress, and the 
country was swarming with marauding bands of savages and 
tories, his house was attacked at night by a band of tories, who 
demanded the keys to his desk, which contained his papers, etc., 
which the old man refused to deliver up. Thereupon one of 
the band clinched him, at which a scuffle ensued, which resulted 
in getting the old man down, when one of the party drew up 



^ Relation of Miss KeziaJi Baker to the author in the summer of 1867. 

" This account of the Parks affair was obtained by the author from Daniel E. 
Parks, Esq., attorney and counselor at-law, lately of Sandy Hill, N, Y. The story 
was written down by him, as related by his father Barzillai, a son of Solomon 
Parks, many years ago, and I will add, that the lawyer, familiar from childhood 
with the family legend, considers this the correct version. 



THE PARKS MURDER. 425' 

and shot him. He was supposed at that time to be about seventy- 
five years of age, and died in defending himself against British 
aggression. 

Among the band was a man by the name of Richardson,' who 
lived in that vicinity, and who had purchased of the old man 
a piece of land containing about one hundred acres, for which 
Parks held his obligation, and it is confidently believed that the 
murdering wretches were incited to the commission of this act 
of barbarism by a desire to get possession of Richardson's obli- 
gation, and thus leave his land free from incumbrance. 

Elishaand Isaac Parks, sous of the old man above mentioned, 
resided with their father, but the attack of the tories was so 
sudden that they, not being near at hand, were unable to render 
the old man any assistance, and when they arrived on the scene 
of action, they found their father dead, and his murderers ap- 
parently gone.^ Elisha, a young married man, went to the door 
to make a reconnoisance, and while doing so, held a light in 
his hand, it being then dark. This attracted the attention of 
some of the tories who were lying in ambush , and made a good 
mark for their rifles, which they took advantage of, and shot 
him through the bowels, his wife then standing beside him. 
Placing his hand over the wound, he at once fled down the 
river, to the house of his brother Daniel Parks, who lived a mile 
below and notified him of the presence of the torifes, and what 

^ " All I know of Ricliardson, I learned from tlie Parks family. He was ring- 
leader of the tories, who murdered the father of that family. He had some claim 
or title to the South Glen's Falls water power, and to obtain the Parks title papers, 
is supposed to have been the ijrincipal purpose of the. expedition. Old Mr. Parks 
saw through a window Kichardson and Ferguson (a tory tavern keeper at the 
Bend) looking at the Parks papers , went into the house, and was immediately 
killed by a gun breech blow on the head." — Letter to the author from the late 
Judge Hay. 

In another account of this affair, it is stated that the tory party /ound rest and 
refreshment at the house of one Ferguson a tory at the Bend. He had pretended 
to be a whig, had attended their meetings and signed their articles of association, 
and up to this time was considered a zealous patriot. Sending out scouts in the 
direction of Lake George, and keeping a watchful outlook on the movements of 
the Parks family, the party lurked around in the vicinity for a week or more, 
until Ferguson, in the expressive language of my informant, " was eaten out of 
house and home." 

'^ Ephraim Parks, a brother of Daniel, with his brother inlaw Lewis Brown, 
lived in a double log house, situated on the cliff just above the site of the paper 
mill, They were made prisoners, but Brown afterwards escaped as appears in 
the narrative. 

54 



426 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QTJEENSBURY. 

had happened. Daniel at once took down his gun, and pro- 
posed to repair to the scene of action, but, upon the entreaties of 
Elisha, who represented that he could not contend against so 
many, and would only endanger his life in a fool-hardy manner, 
he was prevailed upon to stay and secure his family. This was 
done by removing them across the river in canoes. Elisha pro- 
posed to remain at his brother's house, but Daniel would not 
listen to the proposition. Yielding to the entreaties of the latter, 
he was conveyed across the river, where they took refuge in 
the grist mills ^ at Sandy Hill, where he died the same night 
or early the following morning. His remains, and those of his 
father, were buried at Sandy Hill, on the site now covered by 
the Presbyterian church. Two rude slabs of stone, which ori- 
ginally marked the place of sepulture, it is said, were incorpo- 
rated into the foundation of that ediiice, whose fane shades the 
resting place of these martyrs. 

Isaac, the other son, was taken prisoner, and carried to Quebec, 
from whence he escaped three times, and was as often retaken, 
and ultimately exchanged. The third time he escaped in com- 
pany with five others, who, after they had traveled through the 
wilderness a length of time sufficient to exhaust all of their pro- 
visions, and were in a famished condition, it was proposed to 
cast lots to see which should be sacrificed to serve as food for 



J Probably a mistake, for after diligent inquiry, the author has failed to receive 
any evidence that a grist mill was built at Sandy Hill before the year 1795. One 
of the first buildings erected in the town of Kingsbury was a saw-mill put up by 
James Bradshaw, one of the patentees and proprietors, at Baker's falls. The 
tract was then commonly known as Bradshaw's township. 

Albert Baker, the second settler at that place, and after whom the third fall on 
the Hudson was named, removed thither with his family in May, 17G8. He was 
employed and sent up by the New York proprietors of the patent to look after 
their interests. His first house, a framed building, was built the same year. It 
stood not far from the main traveled road to Fort Edward, fronting on the street 
which led to the mills. 

The second dwelling house at Sandy Hill, was a two story framed building, 
•which stood near Mr. Nelson Wait's residence. This was built for Baker's partner 
Michael Hoffhagle. The latter building was accidentally burned, before the com- 
mencement of the revolution. 

At the time of which we write, a tavern was kept by a widow named Harris on 
the site now occupied by the Second Advent church, at the southern part of the 
village. 

Albert Baker jr., a son of the one named above, was a private in the American 
service during the revolution. Another brother, then only nine years old, served 
as a teamst(!r in Gates's army, and afterwards drew a pension. — Relation of Mrs. 
Rachel Clary ^ daxighter of Albert Baker jr., as above, Jaii., 1860. 



THE PARKS MURDER. 427 

the remainder. A vote being taken, three were for, and three 
against the proposition, Isaac Parks being among the latter. 
The fugitives then separated, those voting with Parks going 
in one direction, and the remainder in another. The Parks 
party was soon visited bj a dog supposed to belong to some 
Indians scouting near. This was killed and eaten, and they 
were afterwards driven to the extremity ot roasting and eating 
their shoes. They at length became so utterly exhausted, that 
they were unable to ascend a hill without help, from each other, 
and whenever an elevation interrupted their progress, they were 
able to surmount it only by crawling on their hands and knees. 

One day, while they were ascending a hill in this manner, 
they were discovered and retaken by a party of Indians, who 
displayed the usual terrific exultation on the seizure of a captive, 
and prepared to inflict the customary tortures and death. In 
some way, Parks, and his fellow sufferers, succeeded in satis- 
fying their captors that they were tories and friends escaping 
from imprisonment by the whigs. Under the promise of a 
guinea each, the Indians were induced to escort them back to 
the Canada border. Crossing the St. Lawrence river, they 
were recognized as escaped prisoners by some of the Indians 
there, and they would have been despatched, but for the timely 
interference of some British soldiers. 

We supplement this narrative with the following relation 
made by a grand-daughter of Albert Baker, one of the first 
settlers at Sandy Hill. 

At the time when the Parks were killed, the old lady, and 
the rest of the women, running out of the back door of their 
homes,^ escaped down the river, and crossing over, went directly 
to Albert Baker's house (near where Mr. Kelson Wait now 
lives), in the dead of the night. The family were aroused by 
the hj^steric sobs, shrieks and moans of the old lady. 

* Anotlier account says, the women of tlie houseliold at tlie first alarm made for 
the woods and escaped. They had with them a lad of thirteen or fourteen years 
of age, whom they bundled up with clothing to screen him from observation. On 
their way they were met by two or three Indians, who asked them where they 
were going and what they were doing with the boy. 

With great readiness of mind in the terrible emergency, one of them replied, 
that the boy had the small pox and they were taking him away, so that the rest 
of the family should not catch the disease. The Indians immediately dropped all 
further inquiries, and hastened away from the supposed danger of infection, the 
entire party of fugitives, boy included, making their way to the woods and finally 
escaping to Fort Edward. 






428 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

At this time Major Thomas Bradshaw/ a son of James Brad- 
shaw, one of the original patentees and proprietors of the 
township of Kingshrury, had a small reserve of militia posted at 
Bradshaw's farm, on Wood creek, since known as the Bond 
place, between Smith's basin and Dunham's basin, on the 
northern canal. 

Of the neighbors who came in as soon as the news of the 
massacre became known, none were found willing to go for 
help, until Albert Baker jr., the narrator's father, and Rinaldo 
Burden Phillips, two stout, well grown lads, hardly appreciating 
the dangers, volunteered for the service. When they reached 
the Bradshaw place, they found no one, but a tory family living 
in the neighborhood, directed them to the barn, where they 
found the major alone, his militia having scattered to their 
homes in the vicinity, and before he could rally them together 
the marauders were so far away on the^r retreat, that pursuit 
was useless. 

The alarm reaching Fort Edward,^ on the following morning, 
a party was soon made up to start in pursuit of the assassins. 

On the way they were joined by Daniel Parks, and his 
brother-in-law, Lewis Brbwn, who, in the confusion which 
followed his capture, had managed to make his escape. 

On reaching the scene of the massacre, they only found the 
smoking embers of the mills and the old man's house. The 
other dwelling on the cliff above the mill was not disturbed. 
It is stated that the Indians and tories tried to reach the dwelling 
of Andrew Lewis, son-in-law of Abraham Wing, who then lived 
on the island, but were prevented by the absence of any boat. 



' Thomas Bradsliaw, a son of James Bradslaaw, was a major in tlie American ser- 
"vice but for some reason never succeeded in obtaining a pension. — Relation of 
Mrs. Rachel Clary. 

I find among the Wing papers the following memorandum, without date : 

" The expenses of the men of the guard, amount to the sum of two pounds, 
(£2, 00), for 6 eating and drinking. 

To Capt. Richardson, Thomas Bradshaw, Sarg't." 

Mem. Asa Richardson was appointed captain of the company for the Kings- 
bury district {see ante), 23d Sept., 1775 ; as this account does not ai)pear to have 
been paid, of course Mr. Wing was out of pocket that amount. 

' Near the top of the hill above Fort Edward, not far from the site now occupied 
by the Grove house, there was a tavern kept by one Bell, a tory. It was a place 
of considerable note, a favorite resort of loyalists, where many a scheme of rapine, 
violence and outrage was concerted and matured. — Communication of tlie late 
Judge Hay. 



THE PARKS MURDER. 429 

The pursuers, taking the trail, followed the fugitives with 
considerable celerity, hoping to overtake them before reaching 
Lake Champlain where their escape would be facilitated by 
canoes concealed somewhere along its shores. Hastening up 
the west side of the Hudson crossing the Sacandaga at its 
mouth, they proceeded as far as Stony creek, a small creek in 
the town of that name in the western part of Warren county. 
Here the fleeing party, finding they were pursued took to the 
bed of the stream, and made their way for many miles. The 
pursuers were in consequence thrown off the trail, and the chase 
was abandoned. 

The fruitless result of this expedition was doubtless fortunate 
for the few captives carried off, who were threatened with imme- 
diate death, if they were overtaken by the pursuing party. 

The effect of this raid was to break up for the time being, the 
settlement known as the Parks mills. Daniel on the following 
morning procured a team, and removed his family, and such 
effects as could readily be transported within the protection of 
the military force at Fort Edward, and when that post was 
abandoned, he retreated with the American army to Bemus's 
heights, where he participated in that memorable action, which 
resulted in the surrender of one of the largest and best appointed 
British armies which had yet taken the field against the rebel- 
lious colonies. 

After the termination of the war, he returned to rebuild the 
house, which he occupied with his family up to the time of his 
death. In the lapse and changes of years a large proportion 
of the Glen patent passed into the hands of various descendants 
of Daniel Parks. 

Solomon Parks, then but a mere stripling, was among the 
militia stationed at Fort Ann under the command of Colonel 
Long in 1777. 

About two weeks prior to Burgoyne's advance, and the cap- 
ture of that post, Solomon with others was detailed to escort 
the inhabitants at the region to a place of safety. All the horses 
and oxen of the neighborhood were seized upon for that purpose, 
and most of the women and children of the threatened frontier 
were removed to join their friends in Dutchess county and the 
adjacent county in Connecticut. At a later period, these Sittings 
and returns became so frequent, that in the language of one 
octogenarian, whose memory reverted back to those early days, 



430 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

"they had little to carry or lose; " and the love of home, and 
adventure must have been strong, indeed, which brought them 
back, after such repeated losses and alarms.^ 

At the outbreak of the revolution, there was probably no 
where in this vicinity a stronger tory nest than that existing 
across the west mountain, some ten miles distant from Queens- 
bury settlement, under the favor and encouragement of the 
brothers, Ebenezer and Edward Jessup, sharp, enterprising and 
apparently unscrupulous business men, who had, from time to 
time, secured the grant of various patents of land not only within 
the limits of the present town of Luzerne, but also the extensive 
tracts known as the Hyde township ^ and Totten and Crossfield's 
purchase,^ which embraced the greater portion of the northern 
part of Warren, as well as part of Essex and Hamilton counties. 
It has already been shown that they held title to lands in the 
town of Queensbury, and that lumber had been sawed for them 
at an early date at the Queensbury mills. The private accounts 
of Abraham Wing also exhibit charges against them for enter- 
tainment of a very liberal and generous character, at Wing's 
tavern. Somewhere about the year 1770, Ebenezer removed to 
this then wilderness region, and built him a spacious log dwelling 
on the farm now occupied by Thurlow Leavins, and on the 
brook near by, erected a saw and grist mill. From him, the cata- 
ract a few miles below* on the Hudson derived the commonly 

* The late Mrs. Alfred Ferris, tlie daugliter of Benjamin, and granddaughter of 
Abraham Wing. 

' " July, 1772, is the date of the Indian deed to Ebenezer and Edward Jessup, 
for 40,000 acces, being the Hyde township. This was probably the 39th to the 
31st of July ; for in the proceedings relating to the Totten and Crossfield purchase, 
further on, is a notice of an Indian council, at which (the last held by the Mo- 
hawks), the etfort was made to extinguish their title to all of their remaining 
lands. At this date was signed, among other deeds, the Palmer purchase of 
1?3,000 acres ; and the Totten and Crossfield's purchase of 800,000 acres. The 
date of the grant of the Hyde township is September 17th, 1774. That of the 
Dartmouth, October 4th of the same year. This last is to Jeremiah Van Rens- 
selaer and others, and lies in the towns of Hadley, Stony Creek and Thurman." — 
Butler's Ilandbook of the Adirondack Railway, p. 35. 

° " This immense and well known tract was evidently intended to extinguish 
the Mohawk title to all such lands as they might possess north of the west branch 
of the Hudson river. * * * * The person who got up and carried through 
this unusual land grant was Ebenezer Jessup ; Messrs. Totten and Crossfield being 
merely i)ut forward as a cover." — Idem. , p. 36. 

* The Jessup brothers owned a ferry across the Hudson above the High falls, 
and the name of Jessup'a landing on the Corintli side of the river is perpetuated 
to this day. 



JESSUPS FALLS. 431 

received name of Jessup's falls. There, until after the com- 
mencement of the revolutionary war he maintained a state and 
style of living which bespoke opulence, taste, culture, and 
familiarity with the elegancies and customs of the best provin- 
cial society. If tradition is to be credited, his commodious and 
comfortable dwelling, however rude may have been its exterior, 
was the frequent theatre of hospitable entertainments, its rooms 
garnished with elegant furniture, its walls embellished with 
costly paintings and choice engravings, its capacious tables 
arrayed in spotless linen and imported covers, and loaded with 
massive silver plate. All of this, with the many costly fittings 
and adjuncts of such a house was at a later date plundered and 
carried away. 

Edward Jessup,^ whose patent included and covered the site 
of the present village of Luzerne also erected at this point a 
dwelling and mills, the first in the vicinity. The picturesque 
rapids and fall, which has altogether a descent of eighteen or 
twenty feet, hence derived the name of Jessup's little falls.^ 

Scattered through this region lived a number of tories, among 
whom may be enumerated the following. John Howell who 
dwelt up the Sacandaga river, in the direction of Johustown. 
Six brothers of the name of Lovelace, descendants of Gov. 
Lovelace, who resided at difterent points on the opposite side 
of the river, and one of whom, who lived near the Stiles place 
in the town of Wilton was in one of the last years of the war, 
executed at Schuylerville, as a spy, by order of General Stark,^ 
after due trial by drum head court martial. Another was Jacob 
Salisbury, who was shortly afterward captured in a cave known 



' " August 14th, 1767, was filed a petition of Edward Jessup and fourteen others 
for a grant of 4,100 acres of land on the east side of Hudson's river. * * * The 
date of the grant was May 21st, 1768. ****** Edward Jessup of 
Saratoga (Schuylerville), lived on the place where John McEwen now resides, 
near Rockwell's hotel. He built a grist mill on Wells creek. The old cellar on 
the hill, near the burying ground, is the one which was attached to the said 
mill." — Butler's Hand Book of the Adirondack Baihcay, pp. 23, 27. 

" " Jessup's little falls are situate here on the Hudson, whose waters rush through 
a narrow gorge between high and rocky cliflFs, down about twenty feet. The 
bridge spans the whole, Avhich is fifty or sixty feet in height. The view is here 
bold, impressive and romantic. Many years ago these waters were measured, and 
found to be of a depth of sixty -two feet. A few years since, an appropriation was 
made by the state legislature for clearing out the channels of the river for log 
navigation. Under this act, the salient points of the rocks were broken pff. In- 
deed at one spot the passage was but twelve feet wide." — Idem, p. 21. 

' He was captured by a militia man named Hezekiah Dunham. 



432 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OP QUEENSBURY. 

to this day as the tory house, situated among the Helder- 
bergs. There were also several members of the Fairchild 
family living a few miles further down the river, in the vicinity 
of the hill known as Hog's back. According to the tradition, 
in the month of April or May, 1777, Indian runners were de- 
spatched to these families, notifying them of Burgoyne's in- 
tended approach, and probably with some suggestions in re- 
gard to their cooperation with certain bands of tories gathering 
in the lower part of the Saratoga district. 

However this may be, notice of their intentions was received, 
and a party of whigs were despatched in pursuit, the latter 
coming from the direction of Ballston. 

So hot was the chase, that it is said one of the Jessups only 
secured his escape by jumping across the river at the Little 
falls.^ 

From thence he escaped across the town of Queensbury ^ to 
Skenesborough, at the head of Lake Champlaiu, and eventually 
found his way to Burgoyne's camp at Willsborough falls. After 
Gates had assumed command of the army, he sent Lieut. Ellis 
with a party of men to arrest the Jessups and other tories in 
that vicinity, but finding them gone he, in pursuance of orders, 
destroyed the settlement, laid waste their grain fields and left 
nothing standing of their improvements but the mills. It is be- 
lieved that these were afterwards destroyed. The houses had 
already been pillaged, and everything of value carried away. 
Thus was crushed out one of the earliest settlements in Warren 
county. 

' If it was either of the Jessups, it must have been Edward, as by the petition 
of Ezekiel lloberts, occurring in this chapter, it appears thatEbeuezer Jessup was 
at this time in Canada, and he was soon after entrusted with a command in Bur- 
goyne's army. Another version of the aiFair makes it one of the Fairchilds who 
jumped the stream, a feat rendered quite possible by swinging down the cliflf from 
the branches of some favoring tree. 

According to the same autlior so liberally quoted, there was near this place, by 
the wester ; shore of^ Lake Luzerne and on the site of the residence of the late 
Hon. N. B. La Bau, an ancient camping ground and fire-place of the Iroquois. — 
See Butler's Hand Book of the Adirondack Itdil may, p. 20. 

" According to one of the manuscript maps in the State library, there was at this 
time a road extending direct from the upper picket post (Brown's Half-way house) 
to Fort Ann and Skenesborough. 



GENERAL BURGOYNE'S CAMPAIGN. 433 




CHAPTER Xn. 

Plan op Campaign of 1777, Determined by the British 
Ministry — Organization of the British Army and advance 
Southward — Joined by Savages at the River Boquet — 
Indian Council and Feast at that Point — Burgoyne assumes 
Command, and issues Proclamation to the People op the 
Colonies — Americans Evacuate Fort Ticonderoga — Re- 
treat UP THE Lake — Engagement at Hubbardton — The 
British occupy Skenesborough — Action at Fort Ann — Re- 
treat OF its Garrison to Fort Ann — Americans posted at 
Five Mile Run — Garrison at South Glen's Falls — The 
Story of Moses Harris, General Schuyler's Celebrated 
Spy — Events following Burgoyne's Advance. 

^T was resolved by the British ministry to prosecute 
the campaign of 1777 with increased vigor and 
energy. To this end, an expedition was planned 
whose purpose was to penetrate the province 
York from the north, and which, by the bold- 
ness and celerity of its movements, cooperating with another 
expeditionary force from the south, should bisect the rebellious 
territory, which thus divided and crippled would be placed 
helpless and suppliant at the conqueror's feet. "With this ob- 
ject in view, General Burgoyne, who had visited England the 
preceding winter, and who had assisted in planning the details 
of the movement, was entrusted with the supreme command. 

He was supported by a corps of carefully selected, able and 
experienced officers, furnished with an ample supply of war 
material, and a well appointed army of which the regular troops 
alone amounted to seven thousand one hundred and seventy- 
three men,^ exclusive of the artillery corps, and a body of 
Canadian militia, which swelled the number to upwards often 
thousand. The regulars were veteran and thoroughly dis- 
ciplined troops fresh from the battle fields of Europe, and fondly 
believed invincible. 

To perfect and coordinate the operations of the campaign, 
"the inhabitants of Canada were commanded to furnish men 



'Stedman'a American War, vol. i, p. 320. 
55 



434 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

sufficient to occupy the woods on the frontiers, to prevent deser- 
tion, to procure intelligence, and to intercept all communication 
between the enemy, and the malcontents in the province." ^ 

Detachments of Indians were sent forward to the river Bo- 
quet on the one side of Lake Champlain, and to Otter creek 
on the other, to clear the way from scouting parties of the enemy, 
while Commodore Lutwych advanced with a powerful naval 
force up the lake, prepared to sweep away any obstructions that 
might present to retard or obstruct the rapid a:dvance of this 
large and well appointed army. 

Burgoyne arrived at Quebec in the month of May. On the 
31st, orders were issued to the several commandants of the de- 
partments, embodying instructions for the order of march. On 
the second of June the movement southward began, such of 
the troops as were not provided with transportation by water, 
moving along parallel with the water of the river and lake 
as far as Cumberland head, where other shipping had been pro- 
vided. At Bouquet river ^ he was joined by a party of four 
hundred Indians of the fierce and merciless tribes of the Cana- 
dian wilderness, under some of the same chiefs and leaders who 
rendered themselves infamous by their barbarities and cruelties 
at the Fort William Henry massacre in 1757. Here Burgoyne 
gave a war feast on the 2l8t of June, on which occasion he made 
a conciliatory speech, and " humanely endeavored to soften their 
ferocity, and restrain their thirst for blood." ^ On the 26th the 
army reached Crown Point, where Burgoyne in person assumed 
the entire command, which had hitherto remained divided 
among the respective generals of the department."* 

Burgoyne's famous proclamation, which so justly aroused the 
indignation, contempt, and derision of the American people, 
was issued from the camp near Ticonderoga, and was dated 
July 2d, 1777.^ On the same day General Phillips advanced, 
and took possession of an elevation some two miles northwest 

' Stedman's American War, pp. 330-1. 

' " This river derives its name from a Colonel Bouquet who commanded an ex- 
pedition against the Indians whilst Canada was under the French government." — 
Aiibury's travels, vol. i, p. 280. 

' Palmer's History of Lake Ohamplain, p. 135. 

* Memoirs of General Riedesel (Stone's translation), vol. i, pp. 99-109. 

' See Nile's American Revolution, pp. 263, 3, 4, for copy of the proclamation, and 
an amusing and satirical travesty, in which the bombast and pretension of the 
former are very happily set off. The latter was dated at Saratoga July 10, 1777. 



GENERAL BURGOYNE'S CAMPAIGN. 



435 



of the fortificatioDB at Ticonderoga, where he threw up breast- 
works, and entrenchments, which he named Mount Hope in the 
anticipation of an approaching victory. This movement caused 
Gen. St. Clair to abandon and destroy the defenses in the direc- 
tion of Lake George.^ 







SKETCH OB TICONDEROGA. 



The engineer corps, assisted by a detail of men, proceeded to 
take possession of Sugar hill, a commanding eminence on the 
south side of the outlet of Lake George and immediately over- 

' The miserable condition of our own army, and its unfitness for encounter with 
the well armed, well clad, well provisioned, and highly disciplined troops of Eng- 
land can be judged by the following extract : 

" General Schuyler visited Ticonderoga and Mount Independence on the 20th 
of June, 1777. He found the troops there miserably clad, and armed, and nothing 
in store for them. Many were ' actually barefooted,' he said, ' and most of them 
ragged." He besought congress to procure clothing, arms, and blankets. He 
held a council of officers, who observed, with much concern, the great lack of pre- 
parations for attack, caused by the utter inadequacy of the garrison for many 
months to do the work, and the want of effort on the part of Gates while in com- 
mand ; and when Schuyler spoke of the danger of the enemy taking a position on 
Mount Defiance, rising seven Jiundred feet above Ticonderoga, on the opposite 



436 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

looking the fort. The name of this elevation was at this time 
changed to Mount Defiance. A road was made to its summit, 
and a battery erected there so that on the morning of the fifth, 
the fort became no longer tenable. The year before, a military 
work known as a star fort, had been erected on a hill on the 
Vermont side of the lake opposite to Ticonderoga, which in 
honor of the declaration of our liberties was named Mount In- 
dependence. Here the general hospital had been established 
by Dr. Potts, while the small pox cases were despatched to 
the head of Lake George. This post was connected with that 
of Ticonderoga by a floating bridge of massive structure sup- 
ported by piers and protected on the north by a heavily ironed 
boom which it was thought sufficient to prevent the passage of 
shipping from the north. 

Immediately upon the discovery that the British were in 
possession of Mount Defiance, Gen. St. Clair called ta council 
of war, by whom an evacuation of the fort and retreat was de- 
termined upon. This was not made known to the troops until 
the following midnight, when orders were issued to embark the 
women, the sick and wounded on board two hundred long boats 
gathered for the purpose. 

"The boats were then loaded deep with cannon, tents, and 
provisions, and at three o'clock in the morning, started for 
Skenesborough, accompanied by five armed galleys and a guard 
of six hundred men, under command of Col. Long, of the New 
Hampshire troops." ^ 

As soon as this detachment was fairly under way, St. Clair 
with the main body of the army crossed the bridge, and retired 



side of the iulet to Lake George, it was the unanimous opinion of the officers that 
Buch occupation was almost impossible, owing to the rugged character of the ap- 
proaches to it, and secondly, that all the troops in the department were insuffi- 
cient to construct fortifications there, and to defend them and the other posts. So 
it was resolved to defend Ticonderoga and Mount Independence as long as possible. 
To this end Schuyler gave St. Clair definite instructions, at the same time leaving 
him to exercise large discretionary powers, to meet any emergency, while Schuyler 
was below making provision to meet the anticipated invasion of the Mohawk 
country. He a])pealed to Washington for reififorcements, informing him that if 
the Americans should be compelled to evacuate Ticonderoga, and Burgoyne should 
make his way to the south part of Lake Champlain, he had not a man to oppose 
him, the whole number at the different posts at and on this side of the lake, in- 
cluding the garrison of Fort George and Skenesborough, not exceeding seven 
hundred men." — Lomnt/s Schuyler, vol. ii, p. 193. 
' Palmer's History of Lake Cliamplain, p. 141. 



EVACUATION OF TICONDEilOGA. 437 

in the direction of Castleton. During this retreat, a continued 
cannonade was kept up in the direction of Mount Hope to dis- 
tract the attention of the enemy and distract suspicion. At the 
same time the intrenchments at Mount Independence were 
evacuated. 

The conflagration of General de Fermoy's quarters who had 
command here, and who set fire to them, in contravention of 
express orders, gave the enemy the first intimation of the 
retreat. Commodore Lutwych immediately set sail, and forcing 
his way through the boom, bridge, and other obstructions, gave 
chase to the retreating craft, a portion of which were overtaken 
and captured, some of the boats beached and burned with their 
contents to prevent their falling into the hands of the enemy.' 
The remainder made their way to the head of the lake at 
Skeuesborough, where, within the protection of the recently 
erected batteries, the fugitives had a brief rest. In a few hours, 
however, the approach of the enemy, whose vessels had passed 
up South bay and lauded their forces, made it necessary to 
resume their retreat, and some in boats up Wood creek, and 
some by land escaped to Fort Anne, and thence to Fort 
Edward. 

The retreating army was followed from Mount Independence 
by the columns of Fraser and Riedesel. The rearguard under 
Colonels Warner and Francis was overtaken by Fraser at 
Hubbardton on the morning of the 6th when a sharp and san- 
guinary engagement took place,^ in which. Col. Francis was 
killed at the head of his regiment, and the Green mountain 



' " The loss to the Americans, by the evacuation of Ticonderoga, was very great ; 
no less than one hundred and twenty-eight pieces of cannon, together with all 
the boats, provisions, stores, and magazines were either destroyed or fell into the 
hands of the British. Among the trophies of the day was the continental standard, 
which the Americans had neglected to take with them on their retreat. 

The evacuation of Ticonderoga and Mount Independence was condemned through 
the country. The people were not prepared for so disastrous an event, for it was 
generally believed that the works on Lake Champlain were in a condition to re- 
sist any attack of the enemy. Both Schuyler and St. Clair were severely and 
unjustly censure'd ; the former for not sending reinforcements when he had none 
to send, and the latter for omitting to fortify Mount Hope and Mount Defiance, 
when his whole force was insufficient to man the defences of the forts them- 
selves." — Palmer's History of Lake Champlain, p. 144. 

" Colonels Jessup and Peters had command of battalions in this action. David 
Jones was one of a company of tory scouts assigned to Fraser's division at this 
time. The veritable Baron Munchausen was also present, attached to lliedesel's 
corps, as a subaltern. — Correspondence of the late Judge Hay, 



438 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

boys under "Warner were badly cut up. On the 8th the battle 
of Fort Anne ensued, in which Col. Long of the new Hampshire 
contingent, after a prolonged and desperate resistance, con- 
tinued until his ammunition was entirely exhausted was obliged 
to evacuate the post and retreat to Fort Edward. It is to be 
remembered that Col. Long's force consisted of cripples, con- 
valescents enfeebled by disease, and raw militia ; while the 
attacking force commanded by Colonel Hill, consisted of the 
9th British regiment, and another detachment of regulars, 
already flushed with victory, and confident in their success.^ 

The remains of Cols. Francis and Warner's regiments, 
effected a junction on the route of retreat with the main army 
under St. Clair, and all arrived at Fort Edward on the 12th, 
where General Schuyler was posted^ with a small force, and 
awaiting with anxiety intelligence from the scene of hostilities. 
These rapid successes of Burgoyue had almost paralyzed the 
country. Fort Ticonderoga was popularly considered impreg- 
nable. A favorite theory of General Washington which had 
obtained in some way genera] acceptance, was, that no attack 
would be made by the way of Lake Champlain. The succes- 
sive evacuation and loss of these frontier posts, was speedily 
followed by general distrust and unwarranted charges of 
treachery and collusion with the enemy against Schuyler, and 
St. Clair, two of the purest and most patriotic men in the 
service. 

During the progress of events herein narrated, General 
Schuyler had not been inactive. He had gathered up and 
swept before him for the use of his little army, or to prevent 
their falling into the hands of the enemy, all the resources of 

' Silliman's Tour, p. 165. " 8tli July. The enemy after an attack of three hours, 
were totally repulsed, and fled towards Fort Edward, setting fire to Fort Anne, 
but leaving a saw mill, and a block house in good repair, which were afterwards 
possessed by the king's troops. — Burgoyne's State of the Expedition, Appendix, 

XIX. 

' In a letter dated at Fort Edward the 9th of July, 1777, Gen. Schuyler says, 
•' I have not been able to learn what is become of General St. Clair, and the army. 
The enemy followed the troops that come to Skenesborough as far as Fort Anne, 
where they were yesterday repulsed ; notwithstanding which. Colonel Long, con- 
trary to my express orders, evacuated that post. I am here at the head of a hand- 
ful of men, not above fifteen hundred, without provision, with little ammunition, 
not above five rounds to a man, having neither balls, nor lead to make any ; the 
country in the deepest consternation ; no carriages to remove the stores from Fort 
George, which I expect to learn every moment is attacked." — WasJdngton Gorre- 
sfpondence, vol. iv, p. 192, Twte. 



THE COUNTRY STRIPPED OF RESOURCES. 439 

the surrounding country. A despatch to General Ten Broeck 
on the 10th, announced that he had already saved about forty 
pieces of cannon, and fifteen tons of gunpowder by removing 

*The following affidavits and vouchers exhibit in part the losses of the inhabit- 
ants of Queensbury at this time : 

No. 1. 

Affidavit of Abraham Wing relating to losses incurred during the retreat of 
the American army at the time of Burgoyne's advance, towards Saratoga. 

In the month of July, 1777, the under-mentioned cattle were taken from me by 
General Orders and Converted to the use of the Continental Army, for which I 
have never received any compensation, vizt : 

1 Red Sorrel Horse aged 7 years and worth £25 „ 00 „ 

1 Large Mare aged 3 years worth 20 „ 00 „ 

1 Mare and her Colt worth 18 „ 00 „ 

1 Cow five years old worth 8 „ 00 „ 

2 large fatt Calves worth when taken 3 „ 00 „ 

11 Best Sheep worth two Dollars each 8 „ 16 „ 



£83 „ 16 „ 
And in the month of July, 1777, my mills were dismantled of 25 Saws, 2 Rag- 
Wheels, Gudgeons, Hoops, Bands, Hoggles, Roundsills, Hands, Dogs, Barrs & all 
other utensills necessary for two Mills in Compleat Repair, for none of which 
articles I have ever received any compensation whatever. 

These Mill Irons were carried off in two waggons on the retreat of the Con- 
tinental army from Fort George and were worth at least one Hundred and Twenty 
Pounds 

Abraham Wing. 



Washington ) 



County J 6th March, 1786 
This Day personally appeared the above named Abm Wing and made affirmation 
to the truth of the above before me. 

Adiel Sherwood, Jub. Pe. 

No. 2. 

Affirmation of Abraham and Benjamin Wing, concerning grain and hay converted 

to the use of the Continental Army. 

We do hereby most solemnly affirm that in the month of July, 1777, the under- 
named grain was taken from us for the use of the Continental Army on their retreat 
from Fort George for which we have Never received any Compensation in any 
Manner & grane, and the Quantity was apprised by Morgan Lewis and the price 
affixed by Phinehas Babcock, Andrew Lewis and James Higson, viz. 

16 Bushels Oats 
18 Bushels rve 
30 Bushels of -Oats 
66 Bushels of Corn 
36 Bushels of Wheat 
3 tons of hay j 

Washington \ 6th March 1786 

County J This day personally appeared the above Signers and Solemly 
affirmed in the presense of Almighty God that they had not received any com- 
pensation for the above articles. 

Adeel Sherwood, Juss Peice 



Valued at forty three 
pounds five shillings 

Abraham Wma 
Benjamin Wing 



Benjn Wing 



440 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBIIRY. 

them from Fort George. In a letter written about the middle 
of the month, he states, " if the enemy will permit me to pass 
unmolested, three days longer to Fort George, I shall be able 

Certificate of the Quartermaster General to the receipt of Grain and Hay for the 
use of the Continental Army. 

60 Bushels Potatoes j ^bm Wing 
80 Skipples Wheat V ""'b 

5 Tons Hay ) 

16 BuslsOats 

18 Do Rye 

30 Do Oats 

66 Do Corn 

36 Do Wheat 
3 Tons Hay 

The above is agreeable to appraisement made by order Maj'r Gen'l Schuyler. 

M. Lewis, 
9 May 1778 D. Q. M. G. 

No. 4. 
Affidavit relating to the same. 
We do hereby solemnly swear that to the best of our knowledge the different 
articles as certified by Morgan Lewis which were taken from Abraham and 
Benjamin Wing by the Continental Army were worth vizt. : 

from Abraham Wing amount 

60 Bushels potatoes Worth 2s. Gd. "^ Bushell £7 „ 10 „ 

80 Skipples Wheat 4s. Qd. %J Skipple 18 „ 00 „ 

5 Tons Hay 60s. ^ Ton 15 „ 00 „ 



£40 „ 10 „ 
From Benjn Wing. 

16 Bushell Oats worth 2s. M. ^ Bushell £2 „ 00 „ 

18 Bushell Rye 5s. ^ Bushell 4 „ 10 „ 

30 Bushell Oats 2s. Qd. %^ Bushell 3 „ 15 „ 

66 Bushell Corn 4s. "^ Bushell 13 „ 4 „ 

36 Bushell Wheat 6s. '~^ Bushell 10 „ 16 „ 

3 Tons Hay @, 60s. ^J Ton 9 „ 00 „ 



Amount of the whole £43 „ 5 „ 

PniKEHAS BaBCOCK 

James Higson 
Andrew Lewis 

Washington County, 6th March 1786 

This day personally appeared before me the above signers and made Solemn 
Oath in the presence of Almighty God the above estimation was to the best of 
their knowledge. 

Adiel Sherwood, Jus. 

No. 5. 

The following memorandum of account fixes the date of the foregoing. 

The Public 

1777 To Abraham Wing Dr 

July 16th To 00 Bushels @ 6s £18 „ 00 „ 

80 Skipi)les Wheat @ 15s 45 „ 00 „ 

5 Tons Hay @ £6, 30 „ 00 „ 



I 

I 



THE COUNTRY STRIPPED OF RESOURCES. 441 

to bring away all the stores from thence and then draw off the 
few troops we have there. Burgoyue corroborates this in a letter 

No. 6. 

AflBdaN^it of Andrew Lewis, — relating to loss of Horses. 

I do hereby most solemnly Swear that on the retreat of the Continental Army 

from Fort George, there was a black mare taken from me by order of Major 

General Schuyler, by a party Commanded by Col Morgan Lewis, which mare 

was worth at least Twelve pound in Gold or Silver & under nine years of age. 

Andrew Lewis. 
Washington I ^.^ March. irSO. 

This day personally appeared before me Andrew Lewis the signer of the abovo 
and made solemn oath to the truth of the above. Adiel Sherwood, Jus. 

No. 7. 
Benjamin Wing's affirmation respecting the loss of Cattle, &c. 

I do hereby most solemnly affirm that in the Month of July 1777, the under- 
named Cattle were taken from me by order of Major General Schuyler for the 
Use of the Continental army on their retreat from Fort George, vizt 

1 Large Young Horse worth " . . £36-0-0 

1 Large Ox worth 10-0-0 

1 Bull worth 5-0-0 

3 Milch Cows worth 7£ Eacli 21-0-0 

2 Large fatt Heifers worth 12-0-0 

3 Calves worth 3-0-0 

£77-0-0 
which Cattle I do solemnly affirm were worth at Least Seventy-seven pounds in 
Gold or Silver, when taken from me, & for which I never have received any Com- 
pensation myself nor no other person on my account. Benj Wing. 

This Day personally appeared before me the above signer Benj Wing and 
affirmed in the presence of Almighty God that the above act is True for which he 
had received no Compensation. Adiel Sherwood Jus 

No. 8. 
Phinehas Babcock's affidavit concerning losses. 
I do hereby most Solemnly Swear that on the retreat of the Continental Troops 
from Fort George 

Captain Lyman & a party of Soldiers ) ^fi-fl-O 

took from me one Milch Cow value ) *" 

Capt. Whitcumb & a party of Soldiers \ r:_{\(\ 

took from me 10 Sheep value IDs J ^"^'~" 

Lieut Howard & a party of Soldiers i 
took from me 1 yoke of oxen valued 1 ^fi_0-0 

at £20 [ 

1 Mare 3 years old value 10 J 

£41-0-0 
Amounting in all to forty-one pounds, for which no compensation whatever has 
been made to me or any other person on my behalf & I do further most solemnly 
56 



442 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

to Lord George Germaine, in the following words. " The enemy 
are laboring to remove the magazines from Forts George and 

Bwear that the above Cattle were -worth the above valuation of forty-one pounds, 
in Gold or Silver, when taken from me for the use of the Continental Army — 

Phinehas Babcock. 
Washington | g^j^ y^^^^^ ^^gg 
County J 

This Day personally appeared before me the above Signer Phinehas Babcock 
Made Solemn Oath in the presence of Almighty God that the above Estimation 
was true and that he had not received any pay or Compensation for any of them. 

Adiel Sherwood Jus : 

No. 9. • 

In addition to the cattle heretofore enumerated were a number of milch kine which 
were returned to the owners pursuant to the following order of Maj. Gen. 
Schuyler. 

Sir : A number of Milch Cows have been brought down from beyond our lines 
some of which belong to Mr. Abraham Wyng and his family and as he is so 
situated that he cannot move I have permitted him to remain and consented that 
he should take back eight of his cows. You will therefore please to deliver them 

to him. 

I am Sir 

■ Your Hu Sert 

Ph: Schuyler. 
Head Quarters July 26 1777 
To Major Gray 
D: Commissary. 

No. 10. 
James Higson's Affidavit respecting losses. 
In the month of July 1777, the Undermentioned articles were taken from me 
for the use of the Continental Army By General orders & delivered to Brigadier 
Qenl. Lamed, vizt. • " 

One Large Bay Mare value, £20-0-0 

One Large Bay Mare value, 15-0-0 

Two very Largo Milch Cows, 16-0-0 

1 Large Heifer . . 4-0-0 

2 Store Calves, 3-0-0 

£58-0-0 

For the above cattle which when taken were worth in Specie fifty -eight jwunds 
I do solemnly swear that I never received any compensation nor any person on 
my behalf. 

I do most solemnly Swear that in the month of July 1777, a quantity of corn 
as appraised by Col. Lewis & others to four acres, a Quantity of oats as appraised 
by Col. Lewis & others to three acres & Potatoes appraised by the same to one 
half acre were taken from me for the use of the Continental Army, for none of 
■which I have received any compensation, nor any person on my behalf. 

James Higson. 
Washington ) 

County ) this day personally appeared before me James Higson and 

made oath in the presence of Almighty God that the above act. was Just and True 

Fort Edward 6th March, 1786. 

Adiel Sherwood Jus. : 



THE COUNTRY STRIPPED OF RESOURCES. 443 

Edward, and everywhere destroying the roads, and preparing 
to drive and burn the country towards Albany."^ 

On the 15th of July, during the interim of Burgoyne's slow 
and toilsome progress from Skenesborough to Fort Edward, the 
records of the provincial congress show that Col. John Ashley 
was in command of a military station at the five mile run in the 
town of Queensbury. His force was sufficient to enable him to 
detach forty men as an escort for wagons to Fort George, and 
another party of half that number as a scout to South bay. 

About the same time a large fortified encampment was es- 
tablished on the height of ground across the Hudson at South 
Glen's Falls. Fort George was destroyed July the 16th.^ On, 
or about the same date, General Nixon with his brigade, sup- 
ported by about six hundred militia, was sent to Fort Anne to 
fell trees into Wood creek, and obstruct the roadway in the 
same manner so as to delay the advance of the enemy.' 

Previous to the advance of Burgoyne from Canada, it was 
well known to the committee of safety, that a regular system of 
communication had been established between the British leaders 
at the north and south. To intercept these despatches became 
an object of such vital importance to the success of the campaign, 
that General Schuyler was privately instructed to make careful 
and diligent inquiry, for some active, shrewd, intelligent, and 
courageous person both competent, self reliant, and above all, 
of thoroughly assured fidelity to the cause, who would take 
upon himself the delicate, difficult, and dangerous task of acting 
the part of a double spy. "While casting about for a suitable 
person to discharge this important trust, he fell in company 



No. 11. 

Permit from Col. Yates to Abraham Wing, .Junr., to keep a horse. 

Saratoga, Nov. 17th, 1777. 
I have considered about your Sons Horse and give him Leave to keep the Same 
until some higher Power shall order it otherwise. I also grant you Leave to keep a 
hunting gun in your house and forbid any one to take the same without orders 
from the general. 

I am Sir 
A True Copy Your friend & Hu Servt. 

Chkis: Yates 
To Abraham Wing 

' Lossing's Life of Schuyler, vol. ii, p. 231. 

" Letter from Ooumrneur Morris, quoted in the journal of the provincial congress. 

^ Letter from 8cTiuyUrto Washington, Washington Corr6spond6nc6,\o\. i,p. 399. 



444 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

with an active, ardent whig by the name of Fish, who resided 
in what is now the town of Eastou, Washington county, !N". Y., 
who recommended to him Moses Harris ^ of Dutchess county, 
a young man of education, resources, self dependence, and great 
personal courage, as a most suitable person for the position. 
Harris was sent for, and had an interview with General Schuyler 
at Albany, and after considerable solicitation, he finally con- 
sented to undertake the arduous, and dangerous duty. A suit- 
able outfit was provided for him, and having received his in- 
structions, he entered upon the accomplishment of his task. 

One of the earliest settlers on the Bradshaw patent, was 
Gilbert, familiarly and traditionally called Gil. Harris. He was 
the owner of the well known Colviu, or thousand apple tree 



' The name of Moses Harris jr. appears attached to the articles of association 
for Amenia precinct, Dutchess county, New York June and July, 1775. — Bev. 
Papers, vol. 1, p. 75. 

The name of Moses Harris, and most probably the father of the person herein 
mentioned, is spoken of in connection with the development and working of a 
lead mine in Dutchess county, August 17th, 1776. — Idem, vol. ii, p. 101. 

Moses Harris jr., whose name frequently appears in the town records of Queens- 
bury after the close of the revolutionary war, was a surveyor by profession, and 
a large per centage of the early road surveys of the town were made by him. A 
monument to his memory (erected by his grandson, the late John J. Harris) stands 
in the rural burial ground attached to the Episcopal church at Harrisena on 
which are engraved the following inscriptions : 

West Side. 

MOSES HARRIS. 
Died 

Nov, 13, 1838. 

Aged 89 years, 

11 Mo's and 24 

Days. 

North Side. 
In June, 1787, 1 moved with two of my brothers, William and Joseph Harris, 
on to the John Lawrence Patten, as you may see by the records in the Living's 
office of the county at that age in 1786. But now I am done with this world and 
race, and none but God shall say, where shall be my abiding place. 

South Side. 
He was a man that was true to his friends and his country. He was the man 
that carried the package for Gen. Schuyler and from Gen. Schuyler to Gen. 
Washington. It went, and without doubt was the instrument that put Gen. 
Burgoyne's journey to an end. He it was that bought the Patten granted to 
John Lawrence and others when wild ; and settled the same, being two thousand 
acres, to the benefit of his children and grandchildren. For which I think I 
ought to do something to his memory, — J. J. II, Grandson. 



MOSES HARRIS THE PATRIOT SCOUT. 445 

farm, whicli originally embraced one square mile of the rich 
and fertile farm land in the north part of the town of Kingsbnry. 
He was a bitter, uncompromising royalist, and, although he was 
careful not to commit himself publicly by any overt action, he 
was one of the most efficient and energetic of the secret agenta 
employed by the British authorities for obtaining, and trans- 
mitting intelligence through the American lines to the officers 
commanding the royal armies both north and south. He had 
been a militia man at the capture of Port Royal, and con- 
sequently familiar with soldier life and discipline. This man 
was Moses Harris's uncle. Before the war they had been on 
quite friendly terms; had hunted and fished together at Lake 
George, and prospected in its neighborhood for the location of 
bounty lands, and soldiers' claims. To him Moses proceeded, 
and securing his confidence, gave him to understand that he 
had changed his views, 'that he was tired of the troubled and 
disturbed state of the country; and dissatisfied with the course 
pursued by the whigs, and, believing that the rebellion would 
be crushed out sooner or later, he had about come to the con- 
clusion to join the British array, unless some more congenial 
employment was offered.^ At this stage of aftairs the notorious 
Joseph Betteys seems to have been consulted, and to have com- 
pleted the negotiations and arrangements by which Harris was 
to act as a courier in conveying despatches between this point 
and Albany. He was conducted to a tory rendezvous on the 
Half-way brook in the vicinity of the settlement now known as 
Tripoli, where in an underground apartment, amply furnished 
with arms, ammunition and provisions, he was sworn to secrecy 
and fidelity, and the despatches here concealed, were delivered 
to him for transmission to one William Shepherd, a tory who 
occupied by arrangement an old tenement on the Patroon's 
creek, near the old Colonic in Albany, and who in turn, was 
to forward them to their destination for the British authorities 
down the river. The route pursued by Harris, took him at 
night to the house of Fish in Eastou, who lived about two miles 
from the river. Here the papers were transferred to Fish, who 



' The main portions of this narrative were communicated to the author on the 
11th of August, 1850, by Moses Harris, a son of the spy, who then stated his own 
age to be seventy-five years. It has been larjrely supplemented by information 
derived from Judj^c Hay who years before had reduced to writing the local tra- 
ditions and legends of this vicinity, and whose memory was usually good au- 
thority upon questions relating to American history. 



446 HISTORY OP THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

hastened with them to Albany, where they were submitted to 
General Schuyler when present, and to his private secretary 
when absent, by whom they were carefully opened, examined, 
transcribed, sealed up and returned to Harris, who then resumed 
his journey, and deposited the papers in Shepherd's hands, re- 
ceiving at the same time his return message when there was 
one. Harris, in the meantime by his uncle's advice, stopped 
for refreshments at a tavern in the city, where he was on the 
best of terms with the partisans of freedom. 

This system was followed up for several weeks, when the 
British leaders finding their plans discovered and thwarted, 
suspicion fell upon Harris, and he was arrested at his uncle's 
house, taken to another of the secret rendezvous of the royalists, 
on an island in the big swamp east of Sandy Hill, where he was 
charged with his treachery and his life threatened ; but his cool 
self possession never for a moment forsook him, and he suc- 
ceeded in persuading them that they had done him great 
injustice, after which he resumed his duties. 

On another occasion, by previous arrangement and under- 
standing with General Schuyler for the purpose of averting sus- 
picion, he was arrested and thrown into jail in Albany, where 
he remained for several days, whence by 'collusion with the 
keeper who had his private instructions, he was permitted to 
escape, and went to Canada, where he was handsomely rewarded, 
and made much of by the authorities, and renegade tories. 

On this occasion he communicated false and deceptive in- 
telligence, agreed upon in Albany, and which was near bring- 
ing him into trouble. On his return from St. Johns, he was 
again entrusted with despatches, which in consequence of the 
sickness of Fish, he was obliged to take to Schuyler in person, 
and thence by his orders to Gen, Washington. Whether he 
was dogged by spies or by reason of previous suspicions. Shep- 
herd attempted to poison him for his defection ; and Jo. 
Bettcys having entrapped him he was obliged to flee for his life. 
He at this time took refuge witb one Dirk, or Died rich Swart, 
a whig living at Stillwater, a friend of General Schuyler, who 
had requested him to aftbrd Harris aid and protection in case 
of trouble. To complicate his dangers at this time. Swart in- 
formed him that one Jacob Bensen, a whig, had threatened to 
" put a ball thorough the cussed tory " under the supposition 
that he was a loyalist, and that he was lying in wait for him, 



THRILLING ADVENTURES OF A SPY. 447 

for that purpose in the adjacent woods. Another danger 
almost as formidable arose from competition among the tories 
for the position of spy and messenger, and the enhanced pay 
that went with it, together with the consequence and considera- 
tion that the position gave. Among the rivals floated to the 
surface by the turbid current, were two loyalists named Caleb 
Closson and Andrew Rakely living in Kingsbury, and David 
Higginbottom, who had been a sergeant in the 31st British re- 
giment. On his last excursion, he was weakened by a wound 
he had received in one of his adventures, and exhausted by the 
pain and fatigue, he was forced to halt at brief intervals, stop- 
ping first with one Humighaus, a tory living on the south line 
of Fort Ann, and next at the house of Peter Freel at Fort 
Edward. From here he proceeded toward Fort Miller, but on 
the way was pursued by a scouting party of wbigs, and com- 
pelled to seek safety in flight across the river, and shelter in the 
house of Noah Payn, a whig who resided opposite to the block 
house at Fort Miller. His danger was so imminent that he was 
obliged to make known to the latter his relations to General 
Schuyler and the American army. His secret was faithfully 
kept, and Payn aflbrded him the needed protection, and rest, 
and assisted him on the way to Easton, giving him at the same 
time a letter of recommendation to Gen. Putnam a former 
townsman, neighbor, and friend of Payne.^ 

After the battle of Stillwater, and Burgoyne's surrender, 
Harris received (so runs the family tradition) a purse of one 
hundred guineas from General Schuyler for services, and after 
the close of the war a pension of ninety-six dollars per annum 
was awarded him by the government. After the war he re- 
turned to his favorite hunting haunts in the vicinity of Lake 

' Alexander Bryant, who subsequently settled at Saratoga Springs, was sub- 
stituted as a confidential spy for Burgoyne's camp after the advance of the in- 
vading army to Fort Edward, where, as a pretended loyalist, he obtained valuable 
information, which was communicated to the officers of the American army by 
signals. Judge Hay, in a communication to the author, states in some of his manu- 
scripts that he had seen a certificate which was given to Moses Harris by General 
Schuyler, setting forth his faithful and important services and honorable discharge. 
That Schuyler liberally rewarded him, and referred him to congress for further 
compensation ; and further tendered him a letter of recommendation to General 
Washington for a position in the southern army. This, however, was declined, 

Harris asserting that all the tories this side of , should not drive him an 

inch. 

He was very near being made a prisoner with other residents of Queensbury 
at the time of the northern invasion in 1780. 



448 HISTORY OP THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

George, where he purchased a tract of two thousand acres of 
land ^ to which, and the adjacent territory, the name of Harrisena 
was given, where the remainder of his life was passed amidst 
the tranquility of peaceful scenes, and where many of his de- 
scendants still reside. 

In a communication from Gouverneur Morris '^ at Saratoga 
dated July 17th to the council of safety, he says, " I left Fort Ed- 
ward with General Schuyler at noon, and shall return thither some 
time to-morrow morning. Fort George was destroyed yesterday 
afternoon, previous to which, the provisions, stores, batteaux, 
&c., were removed, and this morning at ten o'clock the last of 
them passed us about three miles to the northward of Fort 
Edward,^ at which place all the troops from the lake have ar- 
rived, and these, together with some others, form an advanced 
post towards Fort George ; ^ about twelve hundred, perhaps 

* Mr. Benjamin Harris states that tliere were 21 corners to this lot, that he 
bought of Lawrence, Boel and Tuttle, who had a king's patent which was surveyed 
by him in 1775. The three brothers Moses, Joseph and William came to settle 
on this tract in 1786. 

In the Calendar of N. Y. Land Papers there is record of 16 certificates of location 
for about 5000 acres of land in small parcels — adjoining the other main tract : all 
in favor of Moses Harris jr., occurring from 1786 to 1789. 

In the same authority p. 506, there is a return of survey Oct. 13, 1770, for two 
tracts of land of 3000 acres each within the bounds of the Robert Harpur patent sur- 
rendered to the crown, lying partly in Queensbury and partly in Fort Anne, to 
John Lawrence, Henry Boel and Stephen Tuttle. 

"^Journal of the New York Provincial Congress, vol. ii, p. 508. A letter from 
Matt Visscher at Albany, quoted on the same page dated on the 17th, stated that 
the stores from Fort George all are safely brought to Fort Edward, and that 
Major Yates with about 700 still possesses the former." 

' On the 26tli of July Gen. Schuyler writes to General Washington as follows : 
" I find by letters from below, that an idea prevails that Fort Edward is a strong 
and regular fortification. 

" It was once a regular fortification, but there is nothing but the ruins of it left , 
and they are so utterly defenceless that I have frequently galloped my horse in 
on one side and out at the other. But when it was in the best condition possible, 
with the best troops to garrison it, and provided with every necessary, it would 
not have stood two days' siege after proper batteries had been opened. It is 
situated in a bottom on the banks of the river, and surrounded with hills from 
which the parade may be seen within point blank shot. 1 doubt not that it will 
be said that Fort Miller, Fort Saratoga, and Stillwater are considerable fortifica- 
tions, of neither of which is there a trace left although they still retain their 
names." — Lossing's Schuyler, voX.ii, pp. 248-9. 

* Gen. Washington having stated in a letter to Gen. Schuyler as follows : 
" They say, that a spirited, brave, judicious officer with two or three hundred 
good men, together with the armed vessels you have built, would retard General 
Burgoyne's passage across the lake for a considerable time." 

General Schuyler replies Juno 18th as follows : " The fort was part of an un- 



HARSH MEASURES. 449 

more are somewhat further advanced upon the road to Fort 
Anne. The enemy have not jet made any motion that we 
know of, nor indeed can they make any of consequence until 
they shall have procured carriages, and then they may find it 
rather difficult to come this way, if proper care be taken to pre- 
vent them from procuring forage. For this purpose I shall give 
it as my opinion to the general, whenever he asks it, to break 
up all the settlements upon our northern frontier, to drive off 
the cattle, secure or destroy the forage, etc. ; and also to destroy 
the saw mills. 

" These measures, harsh as they may seem, are, I am con- 
fident, absolutely necessary. They ought undoubtedly to be 
taken with prudence, and temperately carried into execution. 
But I will venture to say, that if we lay it down as a maxim 
never to contend for ground but in the last necessity, to leave 
nothing but a wilderness to the enemy, their progress must be 
impeded by obstacles which it is not in human nature to sur- 
mount; and then, unless we have, with our usual good nature, 
built posts for their defence, they must at the approach of 
winter retire to the place from whence they at first set out. 
The militia from the eastward come in by degrees, and I expect 
we shall soon be in force to carry on the jyeUte guerre to 
advantage, provided, always, Burgoyne attempts to annoy us, 
for it is pretty clear that we cannot get at him." 

At the near approach of the enemy, the women and children 
had been collected under escort, and sent forward within the 
American lines to places of quiet and security for protection. 
Most of the residents of Queensbury, who desired to avail them- 
selves of the privilege, took refuge in Dutchess county. Some 
few remained behind, depending for safety upon their principles 
of non-resistance and their faith and reliance in God's protection. 
The scene of this general flitting, expedited by the frequent 

finislied bastion of an intended fortification. The ba,stion was closed at the gorge. 
In it was a barrack capable of containing between thirty and fifty men ; without 
ditch, without wall, without cistern ; without any picket to prevent an enemy from 
running over the wall ; so small as not to contain over one hundred and 
fifty men ; commanded by ground greatly overlooking it, and within point blank 
shot ; and so situated that five hundred men may lie between the bastion and the 
lake from this extremely defensible fortress. Of the vessels built there, one was 
atioat and tolerably fitted, the other still upon the stocks ; but, if the two had 
been upon the water, they would have been of little use without rigging or 
guns." — Sparks's Life and Writings of Washington, vol. iv, p. idi. 
57 



450 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURT. 

appearance of small bands of armed savages, is thus graphically 
portrayed by another.^ 

" The roads were filled with fugitives ; men leading little 
children by the hand, women pressing their infant offspring to 
their bosoms, hurrying forward in utmost consternation, from 
the scene of danger. Occasionally passed a cavalcade, two and 
even three mounted on a single steed, panting under its heavy 
load; sometimes carrying a mother and her child, while the 
father ran breathless by the horse's side. Then came a pro- 
cession of carts drawn by oxen, laden with furniture hastily 
collected ; and here and there, mingling with the crowd of 
vehicles, was seen many a sturdy husbandman followed by his 
household and driving his domestic animals before him." 

After the engagement at, and the evacuation of Fort Anne, an 
interval of nearly three w^eeks elapsed before Burgoyne com- 
menced making his advance to Fort Edward. This delay ^ was 
fatal to his success. It gave the Americans time to rally from the 
stupefying blow of defeat. "Washington issued his proclama- 
tion to the militia of -western Massachusetts and Connecticut 
for help. It was read from pulpits and market places of Kew 
England, and thousands responded to the call. 

Various reasons have been assigned for this neglect on the 
part of Burgoyne to improve his first brilliant successes. The 
following is given by an English writer,^ who strives to make 
all the events of the campaign enure to the credit of the British 
arms. " It may not be improper to relate here one of those 
stratagems in which the genius of the Americans, during the 
whole course of the war, was remarkably fertile. Schuyler took 
out of a canteen with a false bottom, a letter from a person in 
the interest of the provincials to General Sullivan, and prepared 

" Wilson's Life of Jane McCrca, p. 80. 

" Although this interval, as has been stated in the text, was actively Improved 
by the Americans in ])lacinoi obstructions in the streams and roadways, it appears 
by the testimony given by Earl Balcarras on the court martial which investigated 
this affair, that the British army was about six or seven days in making the road 
from Skenesborough to Fort Anne ; that the advance of the army was not delayed 
an hour on account of the roads ; that the rebels had made a very good road from 
Fort Anne to Fort Edward the year before ; and, that the few obstructions placed 
on the route were removed by the provincials of the British army in a few hours. 

Burgoyne's despatclies show tliat his head quarters were at Skenesborough 
during this intf^rval ; and there are traditions related of liigh revel and debauch, 
■which rendered him unfit for hisposition.and the jjroper discharge of his duties. — 
See State of the Expedition, Appendix XLii. 

^ Stedman's American War, vol. i, p. 326. 



GENERAL BURGOYNE'S MOVEMENTS. 451 

an answer to it, drawn up in such a strain as to perplex and 
distract Burgoyne, and leave him in doubt what course to 
follow. This letter, which fell, as was intended into the English 
general's hand, had the desired effect, for he was completely- 
duped and puzzled by it for several days, and at a loss whether 
to advance or retreat." 

At length this unnatural quiet was broken. Burgoyne, who, 
on the 21st, had gone forward in person on a reconnoitering 
expedition in the direction of Fort Edward, having received in- 
telligence of the arrival of his long expected supphes from Eng- 
land, finally ordered a forward movement. The right wing 
under Eraser advanced on the 22d, and went into camp near 
Gordon's house at Kingsbury street. On the 26th Riedesel sent 
back from Skeuesborough to Ticouderoga the bateaux loaded 
with the sick and disabled, the superfluous baggage and stores, 
the former of which were to be consigned to hospital at the 
fort ; the latter with the boats to be transported across the 
portage, and shipped to the head of Lake George. To expedite 
the march, boats were sent forward with necessary baggage by 
the way of Wood creek to Fort Anne. 

On the morning of the same day, the outposts of the American 
array stationed at Moss street, three miles north of Sandy Hill, 
were driven in, and a sharp skirmish ensued at that place, with 
an advanced party of British, provincials and Indians, in which 
several of the Americans were killed and wounded. The sur- 
vivors, with the remaining outposts and picket guard, retreated 
to Fort Edward, to seek such shelter as its crumbled embank- 
ments could afford. At noon the family of John Allen ^ of 
Argyle (a loyalist), consisting of himself, his wife and her sister, 
three children, and three negroes, slaves owned by his father- 
in-law Gilmore, nine persons in all, were butchered while at 
dinner by a party of savages under the command of Le Loup a 
Wyandot chief, who headed a force of Burgoyne's dusky allies.^ 

' " The massacre at Allen's was caused by his endeavor to prevent the savages 
from appropriating to their own use the food that had been prepared for his 
family's dinner. Such murders were not confined to copper colored savages, for 
about that time, at Fort Miller, Israel Fuller was slain by John Newell, who was 
[in turn] killed, as well as Capt. Sherwood, and many more like them [being a 
part of the detachment of Col. Baum] at Walloomschaick." — Judge Hay's Narra- 
tive. 

■^ Before the campaign was over Burgoyne said he " would have given all his 
Indians, provincials, and volunteers, for fifty British troops." — Lossing's Life of 
tSchuyler, vol. ii, p. 384. 



452 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBTJRY. 

On the same day, and in the sarae neighborhood, a family by 
the name of Barnes was massacred.^ Also the same day and 
by the same hands John White was murdered on their route 
from Allen's house to Fort Edward.^ The following morning 
occurred the famous Jane McCrea tragedy, in which by the 
same ruthless, bloodthirsty hand, that hapless maiden was 
killed, and Lieut. Van Vechteu and several soldiers stationed 
on Fort Edward hill as an advanced picket post were shot. The 
scalps of all were taken.^ The bodies of the two former were 
stripped of their clothing, and rolled part way down a hill de- 
scending to a ravine toward the river. Here the bodies were 
found the following morning by a tile of soldiers sent out in 
search. The main body of the American army had already 
moved down the river, (on the 26th) to Moses kill, where the 
engineers corps, of whom the celebrated Polish patriot Kosciusko 
was .chief, had selected a commanding point, and recommended 
that it be fortified with a view to opposing the enemy's further 
progress. Here the American army now lay encamped. Col. 
John McCrea, Jenny's brother, had been, left behind in charge 
of the rear guard, and now lingered with the last bateau load 
of stores, in waiting for the remains of his sister. Two women 
whom he had brought from his home opposite Fort Miller for 
that purpose, prepared the body for burial. The fort was 
abandoned and with the two bodies, accompanied by an escort 
in advance, the last detachment of American soldiers, that lay 
between the navigable waters of the Hudson and Burgoyne's 
army, moved forsvard to the southward. The bodies were 
buried by the banks of a small stream about three miles below 
the fort. 

Through the activity and vigilance of General Phillips, to 
whom, states Burgoyne,* " I had committed the important part 

' Wilson's Life of Jane McCrea, p. 106. 

^ Manuscript of Judge Hay . 

'William Qriffing,' a tory, wlio lived a short distance east of tlio Baker and 
Hoffnaofle place on Sandy Hill, kept a tavern which was quite a place of resort 
for the tories during the war. Here the exultant party of Indians brought and 
exhibited the reeking scalp of Jane McCrea. — Relation of Miss Keziah Baker. 

* State of the Expedition. London, 1780, p. 12. From the 11th of July, General 
Phillips had charge of the duty of forwarding boats and transporting supplies 
across the portage and through Lake George. In one of his despatches Burgoyne 
says, " in the mean time, fill possible diligence is using at Ticonderoga to get the 

' After the close of the war, Grilling removed with his family to the neighborhood of French 
mounliiiu where he died. 



GENEKAL BURGOYNE'S MOVEMENTS. 453 

of forwarding all the necessaries from Ticonderoga, a great 
embarkation arrived at Fort George ^ on July 29th. I took 
possession of the country near Fort. Edward on the same day." 
The draught horses, carts and cattle were at the same time for- 
warded up the west side of the lake by a road leading through 
Indian hollow, that had been cut through the wilderness during 
the last years of the French war. Passing through " the pitch 
pine plains in the march from Fort Ann to Fort Edward," ^ 
Burgoyne made a temporary halt in the north part of Kingsbury, 
establishing his head quarters at the farm house of John Jones 
a loyalist. The Hessians under Riedesel were encamped in the 
vicinity of the old burial ground back of the Baker place, the 
grenadiers lay at Moss street about two miles north of Sandy 
Hill, and the light infantry under Eraser, which at first bi- 
vouacked near head quarters, was in a short period moved for- 
ward into camp at the top of Fort Edward hill.^ The Indians 
and tories in flying parties on the flanks scoured the country in 
every direction, committing murder, rapine, and outrage as 
they went. The greater portion of the dwellings of Kingsbury, 
Queensbury, and Fort Edward were burnt.* 

An American whose name has not been handed down, was 
hung by a band of tories on the yellow pine tree, whose stump 
still remains opposite the old Buckbee place, on the road to 
Sandy Hill.^ The fortified camp at South Glen's Falls ^ vvas 

gun boats, provision vessels, and a proper quantity of bateaux into Lake George. 
A corps of the army will be ordered to penetrate by that route, which will after- 
wards be the route for the magazines, and a junction of the whole is intended at 
Fort Edward." 

' The British had taken possession of Fort George, or what remained of it, the 
same day it was evacuated by the Americans. 

'' Sic. State of the Expedition, p. 34. In a map of the country made at this time 
the region east of the road running through Kingsbury to Fort Edward is named 
the open pine plains. 

^Barber's Historical Collections of N. T., p. 347. 

* " The other day I came across a statement of McCracken's that the British de- 
stroyed Kingsbury, Queensbury and part of Fort Edward in 1777, under Bur- 
goyne." — Dr. E. B. 0' Callaglian to the author. Other testimony is sufficient and 
conclusive to the same effect. 

* Tradition in the Moon family related by Mrs. Peter Peck. Suspected persona 
on either side, had in those days but short shrift and scant mercy. Burgoyne 
writing to Lord George Germaine says : " Another most embarrassing circum- 
stance is the want of communication with Sir William Howe. Of the messengers 
I have sent, I know of two being hanged, and am ignorant whether any of the 
rest arrived. The same fate has probably attended those despatched by Sir 
William for only one letter has come to hand." — Memoirs of John Stark, p. 73. 

® L(}ssin(/'s Field Book of the Mevolution, vol. i, p. 77. 



454 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

abandoned. A brisk engagement was held between a party of 
tories and Americans who had entrenched themselves near Doe's 
Corners at the foot of Palmertown mountain, in which the latter 
were defeated and driven off with some loss. 

Mention has been made of Michael Hoffnagle, Baker's partner 
ia the mills at Sandy Hill. He was a tory, and after Burgoyne's 
surrender, with many other loyalists sought safety and refuge 
in Canada. 

His daughter Hannah, who was brought up in the same 
house with Albert Baker jr. (as the two families lived together), 
married Samuel Harris, a brother of Jonathan Harris, who, at 
a later period carried on the business of hatting on Sandy Hill. 

At the time of Burgoyne's advance, they were residents at Moss 
street, where, after the war, she and her husband lived to raise a 
large family. She was one day, while at work baking, having just 
taken abatch of biscuit from the oven, surprised by a party of In- 
dians who rushed in, seized, and bound her, and took the baby 
from the cradle, a prisoner also. One of the numberof her dusky 
tormentors, took the cradle quilt, a handsome and elaborate 
patchwork affair, the love labor of young maternity, and filled 
it with the smoking hot biscuit just from the oven. With other 
prisoners the young mother and her babe were hurried along 
on a forced march toward Canada. Coming along, shortly after 
her start, to a party of Hessians, she made a piteous appeal to 
them in herfather's native tongue, when without command, but 
with one consent, they drew their long sabres, and advanced 
upon the Indians in a resolute and threatening manner, which 
caused the latter to retire to the woods, abandoning their victims 
but carrying off the blanket and the biscuit, while the mother 
joyfully seized her child and returned in safety to her home.^ 



' Relation of Miss Keziah Baker, who also tells the folio win fy quaint anecdote 
of the Hessians. DuHcan Shaw, a Scotchman, who had for his neighbors the Gril- 
christs and McDougalls, lived east of Dunham's basin, on the corner leading to 
Argyle. Here the Hessians came day after day during Burgoyne's advance calling 
for " Meelick, Meelick ;" nntil finally the old lady's patience became exhausted, 
and in language more forcible than elegant told them she had no more milk for 
them, unless they ripped open the Hessians to get it. 



GEN. SCHUYLER RELIEVED OF COMMAND. 455 




CHAPTER Xin. 

General Gates assumes the Command op the Northern Army — 
General Riedesbl ordered to John's Farm — Arrival of 
Madame Riedesel at the Head of Lake George — Affair at 
Diamond Island — British Garrison at Fort Edward made Pri- 
soners BY General Stark — Surrender of Burqoyne's Army — 
Trial of General Schuyler — Election of Town Officers in 
1778 — Disturbances at Fort Edward — Seizure of Serenus 
Parks the Tory — Tory Raids and Reprisals — Affair at Fort 
Miller — Arrest of Old Moses Harris by the Tories — Cap- 
ture OP Oliver Graham — Visit op Tories to Johnstown. 

[jN" the first of August, Genl. Schuyler was ordered by 
a resolution of congress to report at headquarters, 
and, at the same time, the commander-in-chief was 
required to designate some general ofiicer to assume 
the command, thus vacated. The clamor of the ISTew England 
representatives had finally wrought its work, and their pressing 
demands at length secured from congress the appointment of 
General Gates to the command of the northern army. Thus 
was lost to the service through dishonorable intrigue, and po- 
litical mismanagement in the interest of ambitious rivals, one 
of the most capable executive oflicers in the country. Gates 
did not join the army until the 19th. In the meantime the 
battle of Bennington had been fought and won. Hundreds of 
the militia from the east, aroused by the threatened danger, had 
rallied responsive to the appeal for help, and were wending their 
way to the American camp, under the command of the cool 
and intrepid Lincoln. Col. Morgan with his veteran corps of 
riflemen had been detached from the southern army and sent 
north to cooperate in the attempt to check Burgoyne's ad- 
vance. The American army having retired down the river first 
to Saratoga,^ and afterwards to the sprouts of the Mohawk, 
where on the Delta and neighboring main land they en- 
trenched themselves, Burgoyne had advanced^ in the direction 

^ " In a letter to Genl. Putnam, dated Germantown, 7tli August, 1777, Washing- 
ton says, "by the last accounts, our army had fallen down to Saratoga." — Life 
and Writings of Washington, vol. v, p. 23. 

^ The royal army moved forward to Fort Edward, and took possession of that 
post on the 30th of July. On arriving at the Hudson, the English ' were seized 



456 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OP QUEEN8BURY, 

of Albany as far as Fort Miller where he made his head quarters 
at the residence of Judge Duer, then a meml5er of congress, 
and who was at that time in attendance upon his official duties. 
His main army at this time was encamped near the confluence 
of the Batten kill with the Hudson, A bridge of boats was 
thrown across the river, over which Fraser's corps passed and 
occupied the heights of Saratoga, where he established a forti- 
fied camp.^ 

" On the 8th of August, General Riedesel was detached with 
three battalions to John's farm,^ between Forts George and 
Edward, for the purpose, not only of covering the communica- 
tion with Fort George, but to promote the conveyance of the 
convoy to the army. There, in that place, he was completely 
cut off from the army ! So he entrenched himself in a strongly 
fortified camp, that he might be able to defend himself to the 
last man."^ 

From this time to the 11th of September, he was busily en- 
gaged in the transportation of baggage, supplies, and war 
material from the head of Lake George to the army below. 
" Those articles however, which might be more needed, were 
only sent back as far as Diamond island in Lake George, seven 
miles from Fort George, that they might be close at hand in 
case of need. At the same time two companies of the 47th 
regiment were sent with them as a garrison ; only thirty men 
and one officer being left at Fort George, as the communica- 
tion with the lake was to be given up for the present. In pur- 
suance with this plan the two companies of the 53d regiment 



with a delirium of joy.' It was the point to which they had long looked forward 
with the utmost eagerness. It had been reached at last, at the expense of, as it 
ultimately proved, the entire enterprise and venture. 

' Lossinff's Life of Schuyler, vol. ii, p. 293. 

^ Stone's Translation of the Memoirs of Baroness Riedesel^ p. 97, from which the 
following note is also transcribed. 

" This farm was immediately north of Half- Way brook, two miles from the 
present pretty village of Glen's Falls." 

I may be permitted to add that the late Judge Hay in some of his writings con- 
curred in the above statement. This locality was the site of Fort Amherst of the 
French war ; wliile the place of Riedesel's fortified camp, tradition locates at the 
Garrison ground, elsewhere spoken of, about one-third of a mile below, and on the 
opposite or south side of the stream. 

^ In Stone's Memoirs of General Riedesel, vol. i, p. 137, John's farm is located 
at Brown's half-way house. The reasons or authority for this opinion are not 
given. The statement is manifestly an error, and inconsistent with other por- 
tions of the same narrative. 



MOVEMENTS AGAINST DIAMOND ISLAND. 457 

which hud been hitherto stationed at Fort George, were sent to 
Ticonderoga, to reinforce that post."^ The entrenchments and 
post at Diamond island were placed in the command of Captain 
Aubrey, of the 47th, and before his communications with the 
army were cut off, his force was strengthened by the addition 
of a company of artillery.^" 

In the mean time, through the courtesy of General Burgoyne 
who had dispatched Captain Willoe as her escort, he was joined 
by his wife, the Baroness Riedesel, whose gracious womanly 
memoirs^ have long made her name a household word along the 
line of Burgoyne's march. Accompanied by her three ciiildren, 
all daughters, she arrived at noon, on the 14th of August, at 
the head of Lake George, where they were entertained by Col. 
Anstruther, " an exceedingly good and amiable man" to quote 
the words of the baroness. He was colonel of the 62d regi- 
ment. In the afternoon, seated in a calash they proceeded by the 
way of Wing's Corners, through Queensbury, to Fort Edward, 
where on the 15th they were joined by the general, who had 
left with the army* the day before. It was about this time, or 
perhaps a little earlier, that a flank movement had been planned 
against Fort George by the way of Sacandaga river with the 
view of cutting otf the enemy's supplies and communication. 
This undertaking was abandoned, or rather merged in the larger 
enterprise by which the forces rapidly accumulated and con- 
centrated through the Hampshire grants, simultaneously ad- 
vanced against Skenesborough, Fort Anne and Ticonderoga 
in separate detachments under the command respectively of 
Colonels Brown, Johnson and Woodbridge, General Warner 
with Colonel Johnson, near Mount Independence, having the 
general direction of ti.e three parties; and General Lincoln at 
Pawlet the oversight of the entire movement. The following 
succinct account of the enterprise is in Burgoyne's own words. 

' Memoirs of General Riedesel translated by William L. Stone, vol. i, pp. 124-5. 

" " In 1813, when the compiler was first at Diamond island, its entrenchments 
were in good preservation, and a house, on the south end of the island, was occu- 
pied by an eccentric Englishman who styled himself Adam Larkin, commodore 
of Lake George, and governor of Diamond island." — MSS. of the late Judge Hay. 

' These memoirs, for some years out of print, were retranslated with corrections 
and emendations, by William L. Stone, the younger historian of that name, and 
published by Munsell in 1867. 

*■ The Lady Harriet Ackland also accompanied this expedition from Fort Ed- 
ward down, being a participant in its hardships, exposures and dangers up to the 
time of the final surrender. 

58 



458 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

" During the events stated above, an attempt was made 
against Ticonderoga by an army assembled under Major Gene- 
ral Lincoln, who found means to march with a considerable corps 
from Huberton' undiscovered, while another column of his force 
passed the mountains between Skenesborough and Lake 
George, and on the morning of the 18th of September, a sudden 
and general attack was made upon the carrying place at Lake 
George,^ Sugar Hill, Ticonderoga, and Mount Independence. 
***** On the 24th inst. (September), the enemy enabled 
by the capture of the gunboats and bateaux which they had 
made after the surprise of the sloop, to embark upon Lake 
George, attacked Diamond island in two divisions. Capt. 
Aubrey, and two companies of the 47th regiment had been posted 
at that island from the time the army passed the Hudson's 
river, as a better situation for the security of the stores at the 
south end of Lake George, than Fort George, which is the 
continent, and not tenable against artillery and numbers. The 



* Sic. Hubbardton, Vt. 

" " The following extract from a letter written by Colonel Brown to General 
Gates, dated ' Nortli end of Lake George, September 18, 1777, ' and published in 
the newspapers of the time, gives the particulars of his success against the enemy. 
' With great fatigue, after marching all last night, I arrived at this place at break 
of day and after the best disposition of the men I could make, immediately began 
the attack, and, in a few minutes, carried the place. I then, without loss of time, 
detached a considerable part of my men to the mill, where a great number of the 
enemy were posted, who also were made prisoners ; a small number of whom, 
having taken possession of a block house in that vicinity, were, with more difficulty 
brought to submission ; but at the sight of the cannon they surrendered. During 
these seasons of successes. Mount Defiance also fell into our hands. I have taken 
possession of the old French lines at Ticonderoga. I have sent a flag demanding 
a surrender of Ticonderoga and Mount Independence in the strongest and most 
peremptory terms. I have had as yet no infoi-mation of Colonel Johnson's attack 
on the Mount. My loss of men in these several actions is not more than three or 
four killed, and five wounded, the enemy's loss is less. I find myself in possession 
of 293 prisoners, * * * and retook more than one hundred of our men. * * * The 
water craft I have taken, is one hundred and fifty bateaux, above the Falls ; in 
Lake Champlain fifty above the Falls, including several large gun boats, and an 
armed sloop ; arms equal to the number of prisoners ; some ammunition ; and 
many other things, which I cannot as yet ascertain. I must not forget to mention 
a few cannon, which may be of great service to us. ' " — Sparks's Correspondence 
of the Revolution, vol. ii, p. 530, note. 

In regard to the demand for surrender, Burgoyne says in his letter to Lord 
George Gerinaiue quoted above, — " The enemy having summoned Brigadier 
General Powell, and received such answer as becanie a gallant officer entrusted 
with so important a post, and having tried daring the coursi; of four days, several 
attacks, and being repulsed in all, retreated without having done any considerable 
damage. " — State of the Expedition, Appendix. 



ATTACK UPON DIAMOND ISLAND. 459 

enemy were repulsed by Captain Aubrey with great loss,^ and 
pursued by the gun-boats under his coramand to the east shore, 
where two of their principal vessels were retaken, together with 
all the cannon. They had just time to set fire to the other 
bateaux, and retreated over the mountains."^ 

The garrison left by Burgoyne at Fort Edward were a few 
days afterward made prisoners by General Stark, who advanced 
upon that fort with a body of one thousand of the hardy yeo- 
manry of New Hampshire. A few days later it was increased 
to twenty-five hundred men and he moved down the river with 
this formidable and hourly increasing force, closing up the 
avenues of retreat toward the north.^ During this interval, the 
Americans had possessed themselves of the high grounds be- 
tween Fort Edward and Fort George, where they had thrown 
up entrenchments, protected by artillery.* 

On the night of the 11th of October Burgoyne held a con- 
sultation with Generals Riedesel and Phillips, explaining his 
embarrassments and soliciting their advice. " General Riedesel 
proposed to leave the baggage and retreat on this (the west) 
side of the Hudson," and " to cross the river four miles above 
Fort Edward, and continue the march to Fort George."^ 

They were informed that a detachment of Americans were 
already throwing up a redoubt at this point and were prepared 
to dispute its passage,^ The end was rapidly approaching. 
The country in the rear was swarming with roving bands of 
volunteer militia, burning with patriotic ardor. In front lay 
an army of veterans of more than double his own numbers.'^ 

^ The British, batteries were planted at the north end of the island. After 
Colonel Brown's repulse he was driven into Van Wormer's bay, when, after 
destroying his bateaux, he made his way across the Dresden mountains to 
Skenesborough, which had been taken possession of by Genl. Lincoln on the 17th 
-with a force of 700 men. — Judge Hay's manuscript, also Letter of General Lincoln 
to the council of Massachusetts. . 

" Letter from J. Burgoyne to Lord George Germaine. Albany, 20th October, 
1777. 

* Memoirs of John Stark, pp. 74-5. 

* Sears' s Pictorial History of the Revolution, p. 261. 

* See map on page 341 where the old fording place and road toward Saratoo-a 
is laid down. It crossed the Sandy Hill road about a mile east of the village of 
Glen's Falls. The quotation in the text is from the Memoirs of General Riedesel, 
(Stone's translation) vol. i, p. 173. 

^ Lossing's Life of General Schuyler, vol. ii, p. 374. t 

' " The exact number of Gates's army, not counting the troops on the other side 

of the Hudson, was 2:^,850 men." — Stone's Memoirs of Gen. Riedesel, vol. i, p. 

189, note. 



460 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

With a fatuity that no reasoning can account for, he had volun- 
tarily abandoned his communications and destroyed the roads 
and bridges on the route of his retreat. Harassed incessantly 
by foes once vanquished and despised " the vaunting general, 
who had boasted in the British capital that with ten thousand 
men he could march through the whole rebel country at 
pleasure, found himself"* obliged to capitulate. The treaty or 
convention was signed on the 16th of October, and the follow- 
ing day, the army that had moved forward so proudly to 
triumph and conquest, laid down its arms. The country at 
large breathed free. The first great blow for freedom had been 
struck ; but the scarred fields and blackened roof trees of 
Queensbury, showed that something more than the peaceful 
tenets of the Quakers was needed to arrpstthe ravages, and check 
the bold license of relentless war.^ 

As has already been stated, a few families remained here 
during all this struggle. "With the new born promise of peace, 
the scattered and fugitive settlers returned and rebuilt their 
ruined homesteads, and resumed the avocations of peaceful 
industry.^ 

^Stone's Life of Brant (1st edition), vol. i, p. 232. 

" Immediately after the capitulation General Gates dispatched the following 
letter to General Stark. 

Camp at Saratofja, October 18, 1777. 
Dear Sir : Inclosed, I send you an exact copy of the convention signed by 
General Burgoyne, and ratified by me. I will forward ever^'thing necessary for 
your assistance ; Colonel Warner had my verbal instructions last evening. Let 
me very frequently hear from you by express, and be sure to keep a sharp look 
out upon Lake George and South bay, and between Fort Ann and Fort Edward. 

I am, dear general, 

Your affectionate 

Humble servant 
The Hon'ble Brig. Gen'l. Stark. — Memoir, p. 140. Horatio Gates. 

' The two following extracts from the Wing Manuscripts go to show the con- 
tinued occupancy of the settlement. 

I. '^OTicK of a Friends' Meeting with visitors from abroad. — Extract from Abra- 
ham Wing's Pocket Memorandum. 
3d mo. G, 1778. 

George Dillwyn from Burlington in West Jersey accompanied by Edward Hal- 
lock, Isaac Vail and Paul Upton of the Nine Partners monthly meeting, were 
here and had a meeting. 

II. Memorandum concerning some horses left icith Abraham Wing. 
Lake George the 12th Day of June A D 1778. 

Mr. Abraham Wing I Cant have my Horses carried to Ticonderoga at Present 
and If you will Keep 2 Horses for me until the Hurry is over and then will send 
them up to Leonard Joneses and Desire him to send them to Ticonderoga and 



1 



AFTER BUEGOYNE'S SURRENDER. 461 

• 

Buro^oyne's surrender was shortly follo^Yed by the evacuation 
of the British forts and forces not previously captured/ as far 
north as Crown Point, and all the intermediate posts to Fort 
Edward were abandoned; thus, for a brief period, the harried 
and harassed denizens of the northern border had rest. 

About this time was the beginning of the famous Gates- 
Conway cabal. In contemplation of a hostile movement 
against Canada, afterwards abandoned as impracticable, Gene- 
ral Lafayette was placed in temporary command of the northern 
department. Washington knew nothing of this proposed inva- 
sion until, as the head of the army, he received the official 
notice of Lafayette's appointment to the command. The great 
and astute chieftain lent the enterprise his countenance and 
encouragement, but such was the deplorable condition of the 
country, the destitution of supplies, and demoralized state of 
the array, that notwithstanding a portion of the expedition had 
already gathered at Albany, a consultation between Lafayette, 
Schuyler, Lincoln and Arnold, the latter two of whom were 
slowly recovering from wounds received at Saratoga, the enter- 
prise was reluctantly given up. During the fall, and while this 
project was still pending, a large scouting party of Indians was 

send me an account What tlie cost is I will send you the money or cum this way 
& Pay you If I may Leave it at Leonard Joneses it will be the Handiest for me. 
I shall be glad to have them have good Pasture. This from yours to sarve. 

«&c David Welch 
To mr Abraham Wing 

' Thomas Chittenden, President of the Vermont Council to General Gates. 

" In Council, Bennington 23 November, 1777. 

Dear General, — I have the pleasure to inform your Honor of the success of 
our Green mountain rangers in harassing the enemy's rear, on their retreat from 
Ticonderoga, in which Capt. Ebeuezer Allen, with fifty rangers has taken forty- 
nine prisoners, upwards of one hundred horses, twelve yokes of oxen, four cows, 
and three of the enemy's boats, &c., &c. 

Major Wait, who was sent to take possession of Mount Independence, found 
nothing of consequence, excepting several boats which the enemy had sunk, in 
which there were some provisions. All barracks, houses, and bridges were burnt ; 
cannon, to the number of forty, broken and spiked up. He was so fortunate as 
to take one French sutler, with some rum, wine, brandy, &c. 

Agreeably to your Honor's request for Colonel Warner to come to Albany, 
express Avas sent, and he is to set oif for Albany this morning. I have the honor 
to be, by order of Council, 

Tour Honor's most obedient, humble servant, 

Thomas Chittenden, President. 

N. B. — I beg your Honor's directions how to dispose of the prisoners." — Sparks's 
Letters to Washington, vol. ii, p. 531. 



462 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

reported as being discovered on the Sacandaga, threatening an 
attack of the settlements on the Mohawk river.^ 

During the respite from active hostilities that ensued upon 
the approach of winter, the committee of congress, which had 
been appointed to investigate the affairs of the northern depart- 
ment,^ reported the result of their labors to that body, by whom 
General Washington was instructed to order a court martial for 
the trial of General Schuyler, on the charge of neglect of duty. 
This was done at his own urgent solicitation. The trial was 
delayed through various causes and influences, all of which do 
not probably now appear. The court, of which General Lin- 
coln was president, finally assembled on the first of October 
following (1778), at the house ^ of Reed Ferriss (one of the early 
proprietors of the township of Queensbury), in the town of 
Pawling, Dutchess county, N. Y., near Washington's late head- 
quarters at Quaker Hill. A thorough and exhaustive examina- 
tion of the evidence resulted in a verdict of not guilty, and 
the brave and patriotic general stood triumphantly vindicated 
before the world. Too late, however, for his proud and sorely 
tried spirit to overlook the past, or forget the unmerited con- 
tumely cast upon him. His martial career was ended, and ano- 
ther had entered into and reaped the rich harvest of his pre- 
scient forethought, ceaseless care, and unwearying labors. 

The great military operations of the next two years being 
removed to the southern part of the state, the seaboard, and 
navigable streams, where the powerful British fleet could lend 
its efficient cooperation, but little remains to be recorded during 
that period in regard to public events in this region. A small 
garrison was retained at Fort Edward,* which, for several 
months, was the frontier post on the great northern military 
route. 



' Stone's Life of Brant, vol. i, p. 291. 

"Oa the 30tliof January the committee was ordered to proceed in the discharge 
of its duty, and its report was submitted to congress on the 5th of February fol- 
lowing. — Vide Lossing's Life of Schuyler, vol. ii, pp. 314-15. 

" This building is said to be still standing. 

* Even this slight barrier it was proposed to abandon the following winter as 
appears by the following extract of a letter from Gen. Washington to General 
Stark, dated 8th October, 1778. 

" I would not have you build barracks at Fort Edward. The troops now there 
may winter at Saratoga, where are good barracks for three hundred men. 

" If there should be a necessity of keeping a small command at Fort Edward, a 
hut or two may be easily erected for that purpose." — Memoir of General Stark, p. 
192. 



TOWN EECORDS. 463 

The town book from which the following record is taken, 
exhibits the usual election of town officers for the spring of 
1778. 

" At an annual town meeting held in Queensbury on Tuesday 
ye 5 Pay of May 1778 for the Township of Queensbury : i 

1 voted. Abraham Wing, Moderator. " 

2 voted. Benjamin "Wing, Town Clerk. 

3 voted. Abraham Wing, Supervisor. 

4 voted. James Iligson, Constable. 

5 voted. John Graves, Constable. 

6 voted. Ebenezer Fuller, Phihehas Babcock and !N"ehemiah 
Sealey, Assessors. 

7 voted. Ebenezer Fuller, Pathmaster. | 

8 voted. Nehemiah Sealey and Benjamin Wing, Overseers of ; 
the Poor. i 

9 voted. Phinehas Babcock, Collector. 

10 voted. Abraham Wing, Town treasurer. j 

11 voted. Abraham Wing, Jur., Pound keeper. ' 

12 voted. Neliemiah Sealey and Benjamin Wing, Viewers of 
fence and prizers of Damage." 

The acrimonious feelings engendered by the hot partisan 
strife, which had enlisted in the fierce conflict of arms, all the 
worst attributes of human nature, and, but too often, found 
brothers and even father and son arrayed against each other I 

in hostile camps, after the storm of battle passed by, found ex- I 

pression in a vindictive determination to rid the county of 
Charlotte of the tory element, always defiant, malicious and 
cruel, and which, for a twelve month had been dominant and 
exultant throughout its wide spread borders^ The foUowiug 



' Extract of a letter from Duncan Campbell to John McKesson. 

" Argyle Dec. 12tli, 1777. 

" Sir — Some fiery men openly declare that they %vill drive off all the Scots and 
Irish as tories from Argyle and New Perth, so that unless the good legislature 
interposes and help, then Canada and the depths of poverty will be our final 
doom." — Journal of the N. T. Procincial Congress, vol. ii, p. 351. 

Part of a letter from Jno. Younglove commissioner of sequestrations for the 
northern department of county of Albany, to the president of the council of safety, 
dated Cambridge (Charlotte county), December 2d, 1777. 

" There is likewise another set of men that took protection and then went home 
to their work ; we want to know what to do with them, and concerning their es- 
tates. There is likewise a set of them that has been with Burgoyne through the 
campaign; and just before the capitulation, ran from him and came home, and 
now are devouring the, provisions that the friends suffer for ; and the populace is 



464 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

letter from General Stark, who had been in command of the 
northern department since the opening of spring/ to the com- 
mandant of" the post at Fort Edward, throws some Hght upon 
the disturbed and unsettled state of the country, at this time. 

" Albany, May 21, 1778. 
"To Colonel Safford, 

Sir : Doctor Smith complains that the 
troops at Fort Edward are turning out the inhabitants and de- 
stroying the buiklings at that place. I should be glad that such 
disorders should be suppressed, and the inhabitants' property 
secured. 

"I received a letter from you, directed to General Conway, in- 
forming him that you expected that the cannon would be at 
Fort Anne. I should be glad to know where they are now?^ 
You mentioned teams to be sent from this place. Col. Lewis 
not being here, lean give no information in that matter.' I ex- 
pect him soon, when I can give you an account. Keep a good 
look out for the enemy, so that they do not come upon you 
unawares. " Your most obedient humble servant, 

"John Stark.'' 

The following month Serenus Parks, a tory residing near 
the Harris settlement in the north part of the town, was arrested 
as appears by the following communication occurring among 
the Wing papers.^ 

determined to drive them off or kill tliem. If something is not speedily done 
with them, we fear the consequence, if they are left amongst us." — Journal of the 
N. T. Provincial Congress, vol. ii, p. 351. 

'" Early in 1777 he was ordered to assume the command of the northern de- 
partment at Albany. For this service, he had very few reliable troops, and was 
obliged to depend for support, at times, upon the militia." — Memoir of John 
Stark, p. 80. 

"^ On the 24th of May, Gen. Stark writes to Gates that he had been informed 
by Colonel Safford, that all the cannon had been brought by him as far as Fort 
Anne." — Memair of John Stark, p. 151. 

Idem, p. 158. Stark writes (p. 151), that he expects an attack, as the enemy's 
vessels are coming near Crown Point. 

* The following extract from a letter of General Stark to the president of the 
New Hampshire congress will give some idea of the disturbed state of the country 
at this time. 

" They (the people) do very well in the hanging way. They hanged nine on 
the IGtli of May, on the 5th of June nine ; and have one hundred and twenty in 
jail, of which, 1 believe, more than one half will go the same way. Murder and 
robberies are committed every day in this neighborhood. So you may j udge of my 
situation, with the enemy on my front, and the devil in my rear." Dated Albany, 
28th June, ms. — Memoir of Gen. Stark, p. 173. 



PARTISAN STRIFE. 465 

"Stillwater, 18th of June, 1778, 
" Sir we have Received yours of the 16th Inst, in which you 
have Sent us mr. Parks & Jackson's Crime as Pr. Complaint, 
we let you know that our Next meeting will be at the house of 
James Swarts at Saratoga on Thursday the 26th Inst, and as by 
order of Convention we are the Proper Judges of Persons of our 
own district in actions cognizable before a Sub Committee we 
therefore demand that the Sd Parks & Jackson shall be forth- 
with delivered to the Costody of Ensign Isac Doty — who is 
hereby authorized to Receive them in order that they may be 
caused to appear before us at the time and ]?lace above men- 
tioned when the Complainants may have opportunity to Produce 
their Evidence and Proceed to tryal 

By order of Committee, 

George Palmer, Chairman." 

On the 8th of June, there were only twenty men at Fort 
Edward,^ and no mention made of any force at Fort George, 
or the smaller posts between. 

This season, memorable in the annals of the times for the 
fearful massacres and butcheries at Wyoming and Cherry 
Valley, was also signalized by an irruption into Tryon county of 
which the following graphic description is copied verbatim from 
Stone's Life of Brant} 

" In the month of June, the loyalists who had fled to Canada 
with Sir John Johnson, to the number of one hundred and up- 
ward, performed an exploit equally bold and remarkable, which 
naturally suggests the inquiry, where were the whigs of Tryon 
county at that time ; and in what were they engaged. 

"The incident to which reference is had, was the return of 
those selfsame loyalists for their families, whom they were per- 
mitted to collect together, and with whom they were suffered 
to depart into the country, and the active service of the enemy. 
]^or was this all. Not only was no opposition made to their 
proceedings, but on their way they actually committed flagrant 
acts of hostility, destroyed property, and took several prisoners. 
Having completed their arrangements, they moved northward 
from Fort Hunter, through Fonda's Bush, making four prison- 



' Gates to Stark. — Memoirs, p. 161. 
^ Original edition, vol. i, p. 309. 
59 



466 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

ers on their way thither,^ and at Fonda's Bush five others.*^ 
From this place they proceeded across the great marsh to Sir 
William Johnson's fish house on the Sacandaga, capturing a 
man named Martin, and another named Harris, on the way, and 
at the fish house taking a brave fellow named Solomon Wood- 
worth and four others.^ 

" They burnt the house and outbuildings of Godfrey Shew at 
this place, and departed with their prisoners, leaving the women 
and children homeless. Embarking on the Sacandaga in light 
canoes, previously moored at that place for the purpose, they 
descended twenty-five miles to the Hudson, and thence, by the 
way of Lake George and Champlain to St. Johns in safety. 
The day after his capture, Wood worth succeeded in making his 
escape. At St. Johns, John Shew and four others were given 
up to the Indians, by whom they were taken to their village 
in Canada. They were neither considered nor treated exactly 
as prisoners of war; and Shew, with three of his companions, 
soon afterward escaped and returned home.^ From St. Johns 
the loyal party proceeded down the St. Lawrence to Quebec, 
where the residue of the prisoners were kept in close confine- 
ment about four months. Some of the number died, and the 
remainder were sent to Halifax, and thence exchanged by the 
way of Boston." 

It was during this season, as nearly as can be ascertained, 
that Levi Crocker of Fort Miller was taken prisoner,^ while at 
work in the fields near his home, by a party of tories, of which 
some were friends and neighbors. He received such abuse, in- 
dignity, and insult, that he said to one of his captors, " Tom, 
there will come a time when I will make you bite the dust for 
this!" After some months' incarceration, he was fortunate 
enough to escape from his prison, and return to his home at 
Fort Miller in safety. One day, a member of the family dis- 
covered the oflending tory, making his way across the lower 
end of their garden. Crocker, who happened to be in the house, 

' Mr. Cough and Ms son, and Mr. Marinus and his son. 

" John Putnam Jr., Mr. Salisbury, Mr. Rice, Mr. Joseph Scott, and Mr. BovATnan. 

' Godfrey Shew, and his three sons, John, Stephen and Jacob. 

* " In the autumn of 1780, young Shew was again captured by a scouting party 
of Indians and tories, in the woods in the neighborhood of Ballston, and at the 
instigation of one of the latter, named John Parker, was immediately murdered. 
Parker was himself soon afterward taken as a spy by Captain Bernett of the mili- 
tia, carried to Albany, tried, convicted and executed." — iStone ut supra. 

'' Itdatiou of Miss Keziah Baker. 



CROCKER'S VENGEANCE. 467 

was immediately notified, and, taking down his gun, which was 
always loaded in those days of peril and danger, he stepped to 
the door, and deliberately shot him. "While writhing and wal- 
lowing on the ground in his death agony, Crocker advanced to 
the spot where the dying man laid, and reminded him of his 
former treachery, and his own threat and promise now literally 
made good. 

Among the pioneer settlers of the Bradshaw patent was 
Moses Harris,^ father of the spy whose exploits have already 
been in part narrated. Like his brother Gilbert^, the tory, he 
was also a militia man at the time of the capture of Port Royal. 
In consequence of this service he became entitled to bounty- 
land, and it was probably while endeavoring to locate his scrip, 
that he settled in the north-western part of Kingsbury. He 
was arrested about the time of the occurrence of the events 
just narrated, at the house of his brother Gilbert. The latter, 
well knowing that Moses was fully cognizant of his evil doings, 
insisted that he should be taken into Canada as a prisoner, even 
if he died on the route, he being not only advanced in years, 
but in feeble health at the time, but Andrew Rakely,' who was 
in charge or command of the party of tories, resolutely opposed 
the proposition, saying, " he is an old man, and if he goes, the 
fatigue and exposure will kill him." To this Gilbert unfeelingly 
responded, " let him die then." The matter was finally com- 
promised by Moses taking an oath not to reveal anything so 
long as the war lasted, which would prejudice Gilbert's interests 
or bring him into disrepute with his whig neighbors. — After 
the war, Joseph Harris, Moses' son, out of gratitude for this 
unusual act of kindness, sent word to Rakely in Canada, that 
if he would come down and settle on it, he would give him 
one hundred acres of as good farming land as this section of 
country afforded.* 

About the same time, a lad by the name of Oliver Graham, 

' It ia stated traditionally, that old Moses Harris after the close of the war emi- 
grated to the then new state of Kentucky, whither he had been preceded by some 
of his children, and where he died. 

* Old Gil. Harris found Kingsbury an unhealthy neighborhood to live in, after 
the war was ended. He removed, it is said, to Bolton, and died, and was buried 
somewhere in the vicinity of Basin bay on Lake George. 

" Andrew Rikely, as given me by my informant, but as the name already api)ears 
in this work according to the spelling in the text, to avoid confusion I have 
thought best to follow Judge Hay's orthography. 

^ Relation of Miss Keziah Baker. 

I 



468 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OP QUEENSBURY. 

being with a party of three or four others on their way from 
Fort Edward, was shot at and wounded by a partj>^ of tories con- 
cealed on the route, of whom Gil Harris was one. One of the 
number exclaimed, as he was about to fire, " Why that's little 
Oliver Graham, don't kill him ; " to which Harris savagely re- 
plied, "Yes! damn him! let's kill all." The poor fellow on 
finding himself wounded, jumped from the roadway into the 
woods on the opposite side from which the gun was fired, and 
fell into the hands of another party in ambush, by whom he 
was taken a prisoner to Canada, where he remained until after 
the close of the war, when he returned again to Sandy Hill.^ 

Late in the summer, considerable bodies of troops were 
stationed at Otter creek. Fort Edward, Fort Schuyler, and one 
or two other stations in anticipation of tory forays into the 
country.^ 

That these precautions were needed but ineffective appears 
from a communication of General Stark, who speaks of the 
detention of a captain with a flag of truce by the British com- 
mander at Crown Point, and also some of the inhabitants of 
the vicinity being detained on board the enemy's vessels.^ 

The events of the year 1778, as relates to this section, were 
wound up by another tory raid by the way of Lake George and 
the Sacandaga. The details of this expedition are related as 
follows by Stone in his Life of Brants 

" Much has been said in the traditions of Tryou county, and 
somewhat, also, in the courts of law, in cases involving titles to 
real estate formerly in the family of Sir William Johnson, re- 
specting the burial of an iron chest, by his son Sir John, pre- 
vious to his flight to Canada, containing the most valuable of 
his own and his father's papers. Late in the autumn of the 
present year. General Haldimand, at the request of Sir John, 
sent a party of between forty and fifty men privately to Johns- 
town, to dig up and carry the chest away. The expedition was 
successful ; but the chest not being suflSlciently tight to prevent 
the influence of dampness from the earth, the papers had be- 

' Belation of Miss Keziali Baker. About tins time Hoffnagle, (or Huffnail as he 
was called) Baker's partner in the mills at Sandy Ilill, who was a tory, also escaped 
to Canada, probably with the same party named in the test. 

"^ Memoir of Stark, p. 217. 

» Idem, pp. 190-1. 

' Vol. I, p. 393. 



THE BURIED IRON CHEST. 



469 



come mouldy, rotten and illegible, when taken up. The infor- 
mation respecting this expedition was derived in the spring 
following, from a man named Helmer,^ who composed one of 
the party, and assisted in disinterring the chest." 

^ Till 8 person was arrested the following spring and executed as a spy. The 
foregoing information and statement in the text, is derived from the minutes of 
the court martial. — Id. 




^^£/iauo 



JOHNSON HALL. 



470 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 



CHAPTER XrV. 

Campaign of 1780 — Investment, Capture, and Destruction op 
Skenesborough — Annual Town Meeting — Queensbury again 

STRIPPED of its RESOURCES ADVENTURE OF JuSTUS SeELYE — SiR 

John Johnson's Incursion to the Mohawk Valley — General 
Haldimand reoccupies Fort'Ticonderoga — Tory Ravages in 
Vermont — Col. Warner Assigned to Duty on the Northern 
Frontier — Major Sherwood placed in Charge of Fort Anne — 
Adventure op two Sandy Hill Boys — Carleton's Invasion — 
Capture of Fort Anne and Fort Ceorge with their Garri- 
sons — Burning op Kingsbury and Queensbury — The Harrises 
and others from Queensbury Carried into Captivity — Their 
Adventures. 

"^^^^^OTHING of any particular note transpired in this 
^ KV\il^ vicinity during the year 1779, of which any record 
remains. The annual election of town officers re- 
quired by the provisions of the patent was held as 
usual, the only change in the list of any importance, being the 
selection of Phineas Babcock for supervisor in the place of 
Abraham Wing. Several new names also appear upon the 
record showing that the work of settlement and the pursuits of 
peace were still going forward notwithstanding the impending 
terrors of war looming up from a hostile frontier. 

Before the ice had cleared out^ from Lake Champlain and 
while it still remained passable, it was made available by a band 
of 130 Indians, led by the infamous Joe Bettys, and two Cana- 
dian Frenchmen, who made an attack upon the little settlement 
at Skenesborough, then garrisoned by a body of militia sixty 
in number, drafted from the towns of New Perth, now Salem, 
and Cambridge on the eastern border of Charlotte county. The 
assailants approached the settlement from East bay, crossing 
the mountain east of "Whitehall village. A man and his wife 
who lived a short distance from the stone house built by Skene, 

1 HoxigKs Northern Invasion, Introduction, p. 18. His version of the affair is 
embraced in the following brief paragraph. " Six days later (i. e. the 21st of 
March), about one hundred Indians from Canada, with three tories from Ballston 
and Tryon, surprised a small post at Skenesborough, captured its little garrison 
of thirteen men, killed and scalped a man and his wife, burnt several buildings, 
and retired down the lake on the ice, by the way they came. " 



DESTRUCTION OF SKENESBOROUGH. 471 

were tomahawked and scalped ; a part of the garrison perceiving 
their approach attempted to escape, by swimming across the icy 
waters of Wood creek, but their fleet footed pursuers were too 
quick for them. "When midway of the stream they were sternly 
ordered to return or they would be shot. They accordingly 
went back and surrendered themselves. 

The attack was made about two o'clock on the afternoon of 
the 21st of March, and before sundown the party, loaded with 
plunder and accompanied by their prisoners, had started on its 
retreat. In this raid three persons (the two already named and 
one soldier), were killed and every building in the settlement 
was fired, so that of the once flourishing hamlet of Skeues- 
borough, not a roof was left, and Fort Anne for a brief period 
became the frontier post at the north. The Indians com- 
prising this marauding party were of the Caughnawaga or 
St. Regis tribes, and the prisoners, after reaching St. Johns 
were conducted through the wilderness to the Indian settle- 
ments at Chateaugay and French Mills, whence after a short 
detention, being robbed of all their valuables even to cloth- 
ing, they were conveyed to Montreal where they were ran- 
somed by the British officers for eight dollars apiece, and 
imprisoned, until they were exchanged, some of them in the 
mean time makiug their escape, and some remaining prisoners 
for two years or more.^ 

The Qiieensbury town book exhibits the following entry for 
the year 1780. 

" At an annual town meeting held in Queensbury on Tuesday 
y= 2 Day of May, 1780, For the Township of Queensbury. 
" 1. Voted, Abraham Wing, Moderater. 
" 2. Voted, to Regurn this to Fort Miller, at Duer's big 
house, till the Eight of this instant at 9 in the Morning. 

" Fort Miller y" 8 AD. 1780, — the Meting mett, and opened 
according to appointment. 

" 3. Voted, Benjamin Wing, town Clark. 

" 4. Voted, Phinehas Babcock, Superviser. 

" 6. Voted, James Higson and Andrew Lewis, Constables. 

' For tliis narrative, not liitlierto published in any of our local or general his- 
tories, the author is indebted to Dr. Asa Fitch of Salem, by whom a full account 
was published in the ScUem Press of Nov. 5th and 12th, 18G7. 



472 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

" 6. Voted, Ebenezer Fuller, James Higson and Andrew- 
Lewis Assessors. 

" 7. Voted, Abraham "Wing, Pathmaster. 
" 8. Voted, Abraham Wing, and Benja"' Wing, Overseers of 
the poor. 

" 9. Voted, Silas Brown Collector. 
" 10. Voted, Abraham "Wing, town treasurer. 
*• 11. Voted, Abraham "Wing, Jur. Pound keeper. 
" 12. Voted, Pardon Daly and James Higson, fence viewers, 
and prisers of Damages." 

The reason for adjourning this town meeting to Fort Miller,^ 
is presumed to have been the fear of some tory irruption from 
Canada like that already related, of which there were several 
more in the course of the season. 

' That the Queensbury families continued to suflfer from time to time in con- 
sequence of requisitions for the public service is apparent from the following cer- 
tificates and affidavits, being a part of the Wing Mss. 

No. 1. 
Memorandum of Account of Outlays, Expenditures and Losses by Abraham Wing : 
Time expended in Search of my Iron which was con- 
sealed by Sargent Williams & Company June the 20 

Day 1778 6 men and myself 1 Day £8 „ 8 „ 

2 cwt of Nails 60 „ 00 „ 

To 3 journies to Fort Stark in the Summer in pursuit of 

sd iron 3 „ 12 „ 

" 2 days at Court 2 „ 8 „ 

" 2 large Carpenters Sledges or Mawls, 9 „ 12 „ 

" 1 ax „ 2 Iron wedges 6 „ 8 „ 

Abrm Wing. 
No. 2. 

Statement of losses by one Jacob Ferguson. 
Capt moss I understand by Cornal mcCray that you had wheat from my fathers 
plase with others ond as it was one third part mine please to pay Abraham Wing 
the money for what you Had and you will oblige your Friend 

Queensbury the 4 of February 1780 ^ -r, 

•' Jacob Ferguson. 

Capt putnam I understand by Cornal mcCray that you had sum wheat from my 
Fathers plase which wheat was one third part mine please to pay Abraham Wing 
for the Same and you will oblige your friend to sarve. 

Queensbury the 4 february 1780. Jacob Ferguson. 

No. 3. 
Affidavit of Samuel Younglove relating to the destruction of property in Queens- 
bury in 1780. 

County of ^ Personally before me Albert Baker one of the Justices for said 

Washington f ' County Samuel Younglove of Lawf ull age deposeth and saith 
that he saw James Stinglor take out of the house of Abram Wing in the year one 



TOWN RECORDS. 473 

The Mohawk Vcalley was still full of sympathizers with the 
royal cause, giving substantial aid and comfort to the enemy 

thousand seven hundred and eighty to the amount of about one hundred panes of 
glass with the sashes or near there abouts and saw him have five saw-mill saws 
and sundry other articles which the said Stinslor told the deponent he had taken 
from the said Wing, and the deponent further declares that the said Stinslor told 
him the deponent that he had got to the amount of between forty and fifty pounds 
from old Wing, farthermore deponent saith not. Saml Younglove 

Sworn before me this 11th June, 1787 

Albert Baker J. Peace. 

No. 4. 
AflJdavit concerning Cattle seized in 1780 : 
Washington County State of New York ss. 

Personally apjjeared before me John Williams one of Judges of the Court of 
Sessions & common pleas for the said County John McCrea of said County of 
lawful age who being duly sworn on the holy Evangelists of Almighty God de- 
poseth and saith that in the month of October in the year of our Lord one thou- 
sand seven hundred and eighty that the Garrison stationed at Fort Edward were 
destitute of provisions and that the Commissary then at that post was directed to 
get Cattle where they might be had for the support of the Troops by order of 
General Schuyler Jonathan Jillet the then Commissary applyed to this deponent 
who had a pair of fatt oxen which he received and killed at the post that this de- 
ponent applied to the commissary for payment who gave this deponent a certifi- 
cate for said Cattle which afterwards was destroyed with the buildings of this 
deponent by the enemy that he the said Commissary left the parts immediately 
after the Campaign ended so that this deponent could not obtain auy relief in the 
premises & has made application to the Legislature of this State but did not re- 
ceive any neither l^as he at any time or in any manner received any kind of restitu- 
tion for said Cattle and further he this deponent has not assigned or made over 
said certificate to any person or persons whatever and that the certificate which 
this deponent received for said oxen from said Commissary was for fourteen 
hundred weight of Beef as near as this deponent recollects and further this de- 
ponent saith not ' 

Sworn before me this ) t„„ -„r t n 

25th december 1790. \ ^^^^^ Williams Jud Curia. 

No. 5. 
Official certificates in favor of Abraham Wing and son. 
No 416 I do hereby acknowledge myself indebted to Abraham Wing in the 
Sum of Two Hundred dollars As Witness my hand this 11 Day of May 1780 

Morn Lewis D Q M G 
This Certifies that Mr Abraham Wing hath supplied the Publick with 150 
Plank and 50 Boards Price not known of the above Boards. 

Jonathan Nicklison. 
This Certifies that Abraham Wing hath Supplied the Public with Two tuns of 
Hay at One hundred and Sixty five Dollors pr tun Amounting to One Hundred 
and Thirty two Pounds for Which Sum this Shall be a Siitficient voucher Given 

under my hand and Seal of September 1780 £133-0 

Chris Yates D Q M G 

Fort George 23d march 1780 
60 



474 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

with whom they were in constant correspondence,^ and the 
Sacandaga and Lake George with an occasional dash into 
Queensbury was the favorite and most frequented route. It 
was early in this season that Justus Seelye,' subsequently a resi- 
dent of this town, then a small boy, was smuggled into a neigh- 
bor's house, at Fort Miller, where a meeting of Indians, as 

These to Certify 

That abraham Wing Jun hath been two days Imployed in Public services at 
the garrison of fort George with a Sleigh and two Yoke of Oxen one day and 
with one Span of Horses the other Day for which he hath Reed no pay. 
To Whom it may i pr Wm MouiiTON Captn Commandt. 

Concern ) 

No. 6. 

Deposition of James Higson concerning two oxen, the property of Benjn. Wing — 
taken for the public service in 1781 : 

The Peblic to Benjn. Wing Dr. 15th May 1781 

To Two Oxen Taken from Fort Miller by Lieut. Bagley, by order of Lt. Col. 
Vandike. 
Washington ) This Day personly appeared Before me James Higson of Lawf uU 

County. } age and made solomn oath in the presence of Almighty God, that 
he Saw the above named Lt. Bagley Take the Oxen from Fort Miller with a party 
of Soldiers and said he had orders from Col. Van Dicke to Do So, and that he the 
sd Deponant knew the oxen to be the property of the above named Benjamin 
Wing. James Higson. 

Sworn before me at Fort Edward this 6th Day of March, 1786. 

Adiel Sherwood Jus Peace 

We Do hereby Solemnly Sware that to the best of our knowledge the Two 
oxen above specified which were Taken from Benjn. Wing for the use of the 
Continental Army, were worth at that Time in specie Thirty pounds york money. 

Phinehas Babcock 
Andrew Lewis 
James Higson 

Washington \ 

County J this Day personly appeared before me the above Phis. Babcock, 

Andrew Lewis and James Higson and made oath to the same 

Fort Edward 6th March 1786. Adiel Sherwood, Jus. Peace 

6th March 1786, this day personly appeared before me Beiljn Wing and Most 
Solemnly affirmed in the presence of Almighty God that he had not Received any 

Compensation for the within mentioned oxen. 

Adiel Sherwood, Jus. Peace. 

It is presumed that no part of> these claims were ever adjusted, 

1 " Major Jelles Fonda wrote to General Clinton (1779), stating that there were 
yet 300 tory families in the northern part of that settlement, affording aid and 
comfort to the hostile refugees, who kept up a continual intercourse with them, 
across through the woods, or by Lake Champlain to Canada." — Stone's Life of 
Brant, vol. i, p. 403. 

' Communicated to the author by his son. 



TORY SYMPATHIZERS. 475 

supposed, was held, and to whose consultations and proceedings 
he thus involuntarily became a witness. After they left, he 
escaped to his home, and related the events and conversatioa 
of the evening. A party was immediately organized in pursuit, 
which overtook, and captured them, when one of them was dis- 
covered to be a neighbor and a tory painted up in the fitting 
semblance of a savage. He with the rest of his party, all tories, 
were sent to Albany and imprisoned, tried by court martial 
and hung. 

Another incursion' into the Mohawk valley was made in the 
spring of this year by Sir John Johnson, at the head of 500 men 
consisting of a detachment of the regiment of Royal Greens of 
which he was commandant, and two hundred tories and Indians. 

Advancing from the vicinity of Crown Point on Lake Cham- 
plain, where their bateaux were hidden, they entered the wilder- 
ness of Warren county in the present town of Johnsburgh, 
following the often traveled, and well beaten trail at the base 
of Crane's mountain, and striking the Sacandaga river near the 
Fish house, pursued their stealthy way to Johnstown which 
place he reached on the 21st of May, 1780. 

The ostensible purpose of this foray was the recovery of the 
family plate, of which two barrels had been buried in the 
cellar of the old mansion. This was disinterred and divided 
among the packs of forty soldiers, and carried back in safety 
to Montreal. The route of this incursion was as usual, marked 
by rapine, slaughter, and ruined homesteads, and has been 
characterized as one of the most wanton, ruthless, and inde- 
fensible outrages of the whole war. 

They were followed by Governor Clinton with a party of 
hastily gathered militia who took the route by the way of 
Queensbury and Lake George, as far as Ticonderoga and 
Crown Point but were too late,^ the marauders having already 
made good their escape down the lake. The prisoners were 
conveyed to Chambly and confined in the fortress at that place. 



^ Although many authorities have been consulted in regard to this affair, the 
author has followed chiefly the very full, and graphic account given by William 
L. Stone (the younger), in the appendix to the Life of Sir William Johnson. 

"^ He (.John Neilson, the author's father), was also a volunteer under Governor 
George Clinton, at the time he went north to intercept the retreat of Sir John 
Johnson, and was one of the two scouts (John Benson being the other) who were 
selected by the governor, and sent from Crown Point to scour the wilderness, 
between that post and Schroon lake. — Neilson's Burgoyne's Campaign, p. 237. 



476 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QrEENSBURY. 

Before the retreat of Sir John, the militia of the district began 
to assemble under the command of Colonels John Harper and 
Volkert Veeder, but the uumberof the invading party was too 
large to warrant them in pursuit or attack, until it was too late. 

In the month of June or July General Haldimand who had 
been the year before appointed governor of Canada^ in the 
place of Carleton, reoccupied the fortress at Ticonderoga, 
with a force of upwards of ten thousand men. His mission 
was of a pacific nature, it being alleged that he was concerned 
in negotiations with the Vermont leaders to restore that terri- 
tory to its fealty to the crown, and that his presence was to 
assure that people of his assistance and protection. Notwith- 
standing this allegation and assurance, the Vermonters were 
made the special subjects of visitation by some marauding bands 
of tories and Indians during the season.^ The towns of Bar- 
nard, Newbury, Peacham, Tunbridge, Royalton, Sharon and 
Randolph were attacked at different periods, a few killed, 
houses burned, fields laid waste, and several prisoners taken 
and carried to Canada, some of whom were ransomed from the 
Indians, some exchanged, and others remained until the close 
of the war. 

During this season Col. Warner's regiment^ appears to have 
been assigned to the duty of protecting the frontiers, a portion 
being stationed at Saratoga* (Schuylerville) a part at Fort 
Edward, and a company under Capt. John Chipman at Fort 
George. Fort Anne was also garrisoned by a levy of Charlotte 
county militia, drav/n chiefly from the towns of Queensbury, 
Kingsbury, and Fort Edward ; and placed under the command 
of Captain Adiel Sherwood, of the same regiment, from which 
the militia were drafted. 

About this time, John High (a son of William High, who 

' " General Sir Frederic Haldimand, had pre\nou8 to tliis (18th Feb'y, 1779), 
superseded Sir Guy Carleton in the command of Canada. — Stone's Life of Brant, 
vol. i, p. 384. 

" Hoskin's Ilistoi'y of Vermont, pp. 75, 6, 7, 8. 

" The adventure of Colonel Warner recorded in a note on page 304 of this work, 
most probably occurred about this time. 

* " The board of war decided to break up several minor stations, including those 
at Schenectady, Schoharie, Johnstown, Fort Plank, Oneida Castle, Half Moon 
Point, New-City (now Lansingburgh), Saratoga, Fort Edward and Skenes- 
borough." The events upon the frontiers, already noticed, induced General Clin- 
ton to retain some of those at Skenosborough, Fort Plank, Herkimer, Schoharie, 
and Fort Edward. " — Ilough's Noi'thern Invasion, p. 23. 



FORAYS AND MOVEMENTS OF TROOPS. 477 

lived near the present site of Kenyon's Mills east of Sandy 
Hill) and Albert Baker Jr. (son of one of the early proprietors, 
and mill owners, at Sandy Hill, after whom the third fall on 
the Hudson was named) were employed to take a couple of 
led horses up to some of the officers at Fort George. They 
were delayed in starting by waiting to catch a horse in the ♦ 
fields back of the present brick dwelling known as the Baker 
house on Main street. The horse had a trick of raising its 
head in a peculiar manner when it did not want to be caught, 
and it played this trick so persistently on this fateful morning 
that young Baker was provoked beyond measure at the delay 
thus caused. After a weary chase and many trials he at length 
succeeded in getting the bridle on to the horse, and they started 
on the way. Baker in after years used to relate this event and its 
attendant delay as a Providential interposition in their behalf, 
for when they reached the Half-way brook, they found the 
bodies of four dead laborers, recently killed, the bodies still 
warm, and the scalps taken. Among them was one they re- 
cognized as a neighbor, by the name of Koou. If Baker and 
his companion had been half an hour earlier, they would pro- 
bably have shared the same fate.' 

From the beginning of the campaign, rumors had been borne 
to the American camps of active and extensive preparations iu 
Canada, for the invasion of the frontier jDosts and settlements 
of northern New York. In anticipation of this event, as early 
as the 20th of May, the regiments of Colonels Yates, Van 
Woert, Schoonhoven, and McCrea, were gathered at Saratoga,^ 
and General James Clinton was assigned to the command of 
the department. 

On the 26th of July the noted Indian chieftain Brant, with 
a body of 800 well armed Indians and tories, made their appear- 
ance in the Mohawk valley. Making first a feint upon Fort 
Schuyler, he descended on the village of Cauajoharie, which, 
with several of the adjacent settlements, was utterly laid waste, . 
with the usual accompaniments of pillage, butchery, and house 
burning. From time to time, all through the season, other 
outrages of a similar character were perpetrated on a smaller 
scale, here and there, along the wilderness front, showing that 
the enemy were continually alert, active and aggressive. An 

' Relation of Miss Eeziah Baker. 
* Hough's Northern Invasion, p. 27. 



478 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

occasional bit of news from an escaped prisoner, or an inter- 
cepted dispatch, bore witness to tlie continuance of martial pre- 
parations at the north. At length the storm burst. The long 
.threatened inroad took shape on the 10th of October, by the 
sudden ^ appearance before the little post of Fort Anne, of a 
, force of 800 British regulars, one company of German Yagers, 
200 tories, and 175 Indians, under the command of Major 
Christopher Carleton of the 29th regiment.^ They had ad- 
vanced about the first of the month from St. Johns with a fleet 
of eight vessels, and twenty-six boats, and landed during the 
night of the eighth on the shore of South bay. Here a small 
party with boats was detached to return to Ticonderoga, and 
thence across the carrying place to Lake George, with a view 
to cooperate in an attack upon the post at its southern ex- 
tremity.^ 



' It appears by a letter from Capt. Chipman, that Capt. Sherwood had been no- 
tified by his scouts, on the 8th, of the approach of the enemy, which information 
he had immediately transmitted to Col. Henry Livingston in command at Fort 
Edward, but the latter failed to communicate the same to the officers at Fort 
George, in consequence of wliich neglect that garrison suffered heavily in the 
action that ensued on Carleton's approach. 

Col. Livingston took great credit to himself for diverting the attention of the 
enemy from Fort Edward by the following ruse. It is quite probable, however, 
that the small party of tories who swept through the towns of Kingsbury, Queens- 
bury and Fort Edward, burning and destroying as they went, as far south as 
Saratoga, and east to White Creek, had neither intention or desire of meeting an 
armed force either great or small. 

" The invading troops approached Fort Edward, but were probably prevented 
from making an attack, by a stratagem of Colonel Livingston who commanded 
there. Hearing of the incursions of the enemy, he wrote a letter to Captain 
Sherwood, on the morning of the day on which Fort Anne was surrendered, saying 
he was very strong, and would support that garrison if attacked. He gave this 
letter to a messenger, who he had little doubt would carry it to the enemy, which 
he is presumed to have done, and thus to have saved that post from the fate 
which had befallen the others. The garrison did not amount to seventy men. 
Parties of the enemy penetrated near to Saratoga. Thirty-five houses were 
burned." — Letters of Col. Limngston, Oct. 12th and Col. Warner, Oct. 30th. 
Sparks's Life and Writings of Washington, vol. vii, p. 270. 

' Colonel Ebenezer Jessup's battalion, raised in this neighborhood, was stated 
to have composed a part of this force ; perhaps comprised thetory element. 

3 " There is a report that the enemy retired after destroying Fort Anne, Fort 
George, and burning some houses. It is thought, and perhaps not without founda- 
tion, that tliis incursion was made upon a supposition that Arnold's treachery 
had succeeded." — Gen. Washington to tjic President of Congress. 

21 St October, 1780. 

'' A branch of tlus expedition, consisting of about four hundred reguhirs, tories 
and Indians, under the command of Major John Munro, a tory, formerly a mer- 



SURRENDER OF FORT ANNE. 4 79 

The garrison of Fort Anne consisted at this time of seventy- 
five men all told, officers included, under the command of 
Captain Adiel Sherwood; men and officers being a part of the 
raw and undisciplined militia of the western border of Charlotte 
county. 

A demand was made for the surrender of the fort and its 
feeble garrison. With a supply of only ten rounds of ammu- 
nition to a man, it was agreed, after a brief conference among 
the officers, that any attempt at defense with such overwhelm- 
ing odds, and no known succor within possibility of reach, 
would be worse than useless, as it would thereby exasperate a 
vindictive and unrelenting foe, and entail a wanton and needless 
waste of life. The fort with its garrison was accordingly 
surrendered, a stipulation having been made that the women 
and children in the fort should be sent in safety to their homes. 
The barracks and wood work of the fort ^ was burned, and the 
force divided, a portion of which marched down through Kings- 
bury street, burning houses, destroying property and taking 
prisoners as it went. The larger portion of the invaders, led 
by Carleton in person, advanced across the country' to Fort 
George, where Captain John Chipraan was stationed with a 
portion (a part of t\vo companies as inferred), of Warner's 
regiment. 

He had, in the early part of October, received advices through 
his scouts, of the arrival of the enemy's vessels at Crown Point, 
a fact which he had communicated to Colonel Malcom, the 
officer then commanding the northern department. 

On the morning of Wednesday, the 11th, being destitute of 
provisions, an express was despatched to Fort Edward, for fresh 
supplies. The messenger shortly returned with the intelligence 
that he had discovered a party of Indians, about twenty -five in 

chant at Schenectady, having left their boats at Bulwaggabay near Crown Point, 
proceeded by an interior route west of Lalie George [via Johnsburgh and Crane's 
mountain in Warren county to the Sacandaga], with the original intention, it is 
believed, of surprising Schenectady." They laid waste and burned the little 
settlement of Ballstown." — Hough's NortJiern Invasion, p. 45. 

* The fort was hardly worthy of the name, being only a block house built of 
rough logs, and surrounded by a stockaded inclosure. — Vide Hough's Northern 
Invasion, p. 43. 

"A reference to Gov. Tryon's map, in vol. i of the Doeumentary History of N. 
T., shows the existence of a road at this time, leading from the po.st at the Half- 
way brook (Fort Amherst), to intersect near Kingsbury street, the great military 
route from Fort Edward to Fort Anne. Judge Hay states in his MSS.,thatat 
the time of Burgoyne's advance, there was a road leading direct from Fort Anne 
to the upper picket post near George Brown's Half-way house. 



480 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

number, near Bloody pond. This was Carleton's advance. 
Supposing it to be a marauding party, and being but scantily 
supplied with ammunition, it was thought best to send out a 
sufficient force ^ to drive them from the road. Accordingly the 
following garrison order was issued to Capt. Thomas Sill. 

" Oct'br 11, 1780. 
" Sir ; as it is reported to me that there is a small party of 
savages near Bloddy pond, you will immediately take Forty 
Eight men, officers included and proseed on the main road, un- 
til you make discoveries of them, keeping aSuffiscient advance 
and Flank gards in Such a manner as to prevent being sur- 
rounded. If you find a large party you will Emmediately Re- 
treat to the fort except they should be savages only, in which 
case you will attack and immediately Charge upon them. 

" John Chipman, Capt. Com'd^." 

For some cause, not explained. Captain Sill did not take the 
main road directed by his orders, and thus unobserved, on a 
bye road, he passed the invading party on its way to the fort. 
Falling into the rear and following up the trail they speedily 
discovered the superior force of the enemy, but finding their 
retreat thus cut pS, they resolved to sell their lives as dearly as 
possible, and so rushed to the attack. The engagement, which 
took place between Bloody pond and Gage's hill, was short, 
sharp, and decisive. The enemy perceiving the smallness of 
the attacking force,^ speedily surrounded it, and the survivors 
of the brief struggle were made prisoners. The severity of the 
action may be judged of by the large proportionate number of 
killed. This spirited onset it is quite probable contributed 
largely to the favorable terms granted in the capitulation. The 
fort^ was immediately invested by the enemy, who were met 

' " Captain Chipman, supposing the party to consist of a scout from the enemy, 
sent out all his garrison except fourteen men. * * * Colonel Warner and 
Lieutenant Colonel Safford were ahsent. ***** Two days previously, 
Captain Sherwood had surrendered Fort Anne, and the whole garrison, consisting 
of seventy-seven men." — Col. Livingston's Letter. Sparks's Life and Writings of 
Wasldngton, vol. vii, p. 269. 

* Ensign Grant with fourteen men, in the melee became separated from the 
main body, and keeping clear of the garrison, fortunately made their escape. — 
Capt. Chipman's Letter. 

* Capt. Chipman in a letter of explanation, speaks of the fort as " the wretched 
production of a cantrous Jebb ;" and in another place says " the fort, wliich though 
dignified with that term, is but an unfinished angle of the intended fort." 



CAPITULATION OF PORT GEORGE. 481 

with a spirited resistance from its one piece of ordnance (a six 
pounder), and fifteen muskets, until a surrender was demanded, 
when upon conference the capitulation was made upon the 
following conditions, alike honorable to victors and vanquished.^ 

" Articles of Capitulation between Major Carleton, commanding a detach- 
ment of the King's troops, and Capt. Ghipman, commanding at Fort 
George. 

" Article 1st. The troops of the garrison to surrender themselves prisoners 
of war. 

" Article 2d. That the women and children be permitted to return to 
their homes, with two waggons and their baggage. 

" Article 3d. Each officer shall be allowed their servants. 
" Article 4th. No Indian to enter the fort until a British detachment 
takes possession of the fort. 

" Article 5th. Major Carleton passes his honor that no levies in the fort 
shall be lost, nor any person be molested. 

" Article 6th. Each Soldier to carry his knapsack. 
" Article 7th. Ensign Barrett shall be permitted to return home with his 
family and the regimental books, on giving his parole to Major Carleton. ^ 
" John Chipman, Capt. Com? 2d Battalion. 
" James Kirkman, Lt. 29th Regt. 
" Wm. Johnston, Lt. 47th Regt. 
" Ch' Carlton, Major 29th Regt., etc., etc., etc." 

The following are the returns of losses at Forts Anne and 
George, the large proportion of killed and wounded being the 
result of the action near Bloody pond. Americans, killed, 1 
captain, 2 lieutenants, 1 ensign, 23 privates. Wounded, 1 
lieutenant, 1 private. Prisoners, 2 captains, 2 lieutenants, 
114 privates. English forces : 3 killed, 4 wounded. Traditions 
have been handed down of cruelties inflicted on this occasion 
by the savages, as was their wont on the hapless prisoners who 
came into their possession. The following reminiscence of 
this action was related to the author in 1849, by one of the 
surviving pensioners of the revolution. Benjamin Knapp was 
one of the prisoners taken at the surrender of Fort Anne. He, 

'A bateau with a party of observation sent out the day before on a reconnoi- 
sance to the lower end of the lake, was prevented from returning by the detach- 
ment despatched from Skenesborough, whose advancing boat was armed with 
a howitzer. This party also escaped by land. 

^ For this document, the author tenders his acknowledgments to Dr. F. B. 
Hough, author of the Nortliern Invasion and other historical works of note, 
several of which are referred to in this work. 
61 



482 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBUEY. 

with the other prisoners, was marched forward with the party 
advancing toward Lake George. They were pursued and over- 
taken near Bloody pond, when a sharp skirmish took place, 
during which the prisoners were conducted to a hollow in the 
rear of a considerable elevation or hill, where they were com- 
pelled to lie flat on their faces on peril of their lives, and warned 
not to make any noise, or give any signal by which their pre- 
sence could be known. The Americans were finally defeated 
with considerable loss, and the survivors made prisoners. The 
tradition, it will be seen, conforms very closely to the historical 
record. 

The prisoners taken at the two forts " were conveyed by the 
way of Lake George and transferred to the vessels on Lake 
Champlain, and Fort George was destroyed." ^ 

The detachment of tories and Indians that proceeded south 
from Fort Anne hastened without delay through Kingsbury 
street, burning and destroying as they went.^ In the local tra- 
ditions ijfc has ever since been known as "the year of the burn- 
ing." Among the number comprising this expedition, was a 
former resident of Sandy Hill named Adam W"int, who, es- 
pousing the royal cause, went to Canada in the early part of 
the war. He with another tory from the same neighborhood, 
acted as guides to a party of Indians to whom was assigned the 
incendiary work of destruction. At this time Albert Baker 
sr.^ was attending court in the eastern part of the county. 
While his sons and hired men were at work, a part of them in 
the barn, and the rest in the fields near by, a neighbor by the 
name of Thomas Lyon came rushing by exclaiming, " Boys 
what are you about ? Don't you see that all Kingsbury's 

' Hough's Northern Invasion, p. 44. Also Letter from Governor Clinton, Sparks' s 
Correspondence of the Revolution, vol. iii, p. 121. 

"" Tuesday the 10th, about noon, Col. Livingston was informed by two gentle- 
men who had occasionally rode out, and narrowly escaped being taken, of the 
enemy's having captured Fort Anne, and were making a rapid progress through 
Kingsbury, burning and destroying all before them." — Letter of Capt. Chipman. 

° The Bakers were of Scotch or North English origin. For political reasons 
the original or pioneer emigrant of the name was obliged to flee his country, and 
seek refuge in this country, during Cromwell's protectorate. Albert Baker jr. 
was born 10th of November, 1765. When he was 4 years of age his 
father moved to Sandy Hill. Caleb Baker, son of Albert, was the first child 
born of white parents in the town of Kingsbury. Albert jr. was sent to school at 
Glen's Falls before there was any school at Sandy Hill. He boarded at Abraham 
Wing's. 



THE YEAR OP THE BURNING. 483 

ablaze ? You'd better be getting out of this !" After warning 
the family, the boys hitched up two yokes of oxen to a cart and 
loading it hastily with what few things came readily to hand 
they made their escape by the way of Fort Edward. Even tiieu 
the tories had formed their ambuscade by the road side, for 
Gil Harris, who was of the party, with others, laid concealed 
behind a log on the route between Sandy Hill and Fort Edward, 
afterwards told Mrs. Baker that he saw her passing with a tea 
kettle in her hand, and that she would have been taken a pri- 
soner to Canada, had it not been from a fear of being pursued 
by the soldiers at Fort Edward. 

A portion of the same party followed down the river on the 
west side as far as Stillwater, burning and destroying as they 
went. The fugitive settlers from Kingsbury and Queensbury 
are said to have been guided on their retreat b}^ the blaze of 
the burning buildings. 

A widow Harris, who kept tavern nearly opposite the Baker 
house, had a little daughter captured by the enemy, but they 
shortly let her go again, and she returned to her mother ; home 
she had none, for it was burned. There were seventeen fami- 
lies living in Kingsbury at this time. Of all the buildings 
and betterments every thing was destroyed but two, viz : The 
building leased and occupied by Adam Wint before the war 
(the frame still exists, enclosed as a barn,^ in the lower part of 
the village) and the dwelling of William High, still standing 
near Kenyon's mills about a mile east of the village. This 
was probably either too insignificant or too far out of the way,^ 
for the marauding party to venture. 

• At this time, Queensbury was abandoned by its inhabitants,^ 
its dwellings and improvements were again burnt and de- 
stroyed, and the settlement remained deserted for the next fif- 
teen months, during which no record exists of town meetings, 
nor is there any other evidence of occupancy.* 

' It is now moved from its original site, and is tlie property of Henry Howe. 
The other house near the five combined locks on the Glen's Falls feeder, is now 
owned and occupied by Joseph Fish. 

"^ Relation of Miss Kezlah Baker. 

' It was at this time that Polly Wing with her infant son Daniel W. took refuge 
and passed the night in the swamp back of the old McDonald mansion. See 
page 162. 

■"'I had scarcely lost sight of Fort Edward, before the spectacle of devastation 
presented itself to my eyes, and continued to distress them as far as the place I 
stopped at. Peace and Industry had conducted Cultivators amidst these antient 



484 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

lu a letter from Governor ClintoB to General Washington 
dated Albany 18th October, he states that a party had appeared 
at Ballston and destroyed some buildings there, and that the 
settlement of White Creek, in the eastern part of Charlotte 
county, had been burned the day before.^ On the 18th 
Governor Clinton at Albany writes to General Washington, 
that " the post at Fort Edward, after the removal of the stores 
is evacuated, the levies who were stationed there, having in- 
sisted that their time of service is expired, and Col. Livingston, 
the commanding officer, with the other officers are now on 
their return."^ 

Among the prisoners taken at this time by a flanking or fly- 
ing party of savages and tories accompanying the expedition to 
Fort George, were Eben Fuller,^ and his son Benjamin ; Andrew 
Lewis who remained a prisoner in Canada until after the close 
of the war ; James Higson, who was soon after liberated through 



forests (who) were content and happy, liefore the period of this war. Those 
who were in Burgoyne's way alone Experienced the horrors of his Expedi- 
tion ; but on the last invasion of the Savages, the desolation has spread from 
Fort Schuyler (or Stanwise) sic, even to Fort Edward ; I beheld nothing around 
me but the remains of conflagrations ; a few bricks, proof against the fire, were 
the only indication of ruined houses ; whilst the fences still entire, and cleared 
out lands, announced that these deplorable hal)itations had once been the abode 
of riches and of happiness." (30th December, 1780.) — Travels in North AmeiHca, 
by the Marquis de Chastellux. (Translation.) London, 1787. 

^Sparks's Correspondence of the American Revolution, vol. iii, pp. 121-3. 
" Those upon the northern quarter had repassed Lake George, and were again 
proceeding towards St. Johns, but suddenly returned with a reinforcement, and 
were, by accounts from General Schuyler of the 1st inst., assembled in so consi- 
derable a force at Ticonderoga, that I have thought proper to send up the re- 
mainder of the New York brigade from VVest Point to Albany, that they mightw 
be ready to act as circumstances may require. " — Qenl. Washington to President 
of Congress. Sparks's Life and Writings of Washington, vol. vii, p. 286. 

" Sparks's Correspondence of the Revolution, vol. in, p. 120. " As you approach 
Fort Edward (from the south), the houses become more rare. The fort is built at 
sixteen miles from Saratoga, in a little valley near the river, on the only spot 
which is not covered with wood, and where you can have a prospect to the dis- 
tance of a musket shot around you. Formerly it consisted of a square, fortified 
by two bastions on the east side, and by two demi bastions on the side of the 
river ; but this old fortification is abandoned, because it was too much commanded, 
and a large redoubt, with a simple parapet and a wretched i)allisade, is built on a 
more elevated spot ; within are small barracks for about two hundred soldiers. 
Such is Fort Edward, so much spoken of in Europe, altho' it could in no time 
have been able to resist five -hundred men with four pieces of cannon." — Chastellux' s 
TraveU in North America. Eug. Translation, vol. 1, pp. 419, 20. 

^ Eben Fuller was a brother-in-law of Wm. Robards. 



THE HARRIS TRADITIONS. 485 

the intercession of his brother-in-law Daniel Jones, Moses Harris 
the elder and his son William. 

The morning following the surrender of the fort, the dwell- 
ing where they lived was surrounded by the invading party and 
before they could make any preparations either for defense or 
escape, they were made prisoners. The elder Harris was treated 
with uncalled for severity and harshness. His shoes and stock- 
ings were taken off, and he was loaded with a heavy pack of 
plunder, with which, after his house and out buildings were 
burned, he was compelled to travel the rough road which led 
along the western banks of Lake George to a point on Lake 
Champlain north of Ticonderoga, probably Bulvvagga bay.^ 
The son begged the privilege of carrying his father's pack, and 
also to allow the old gentleman the use of his shoes and stock- 
ings while he would go barefoot. Through the malignity of 
one of the tories, who had an old grudge to revenge, this 
request was denied, and the old man's trail might, for many 
miles, have been traced by his bloody footprints. After reach- 
ing Lake Champlain, the party, consisting of eighteen prisoners 
with their captors, were embarked in boats and bateaux, which 
bad been concealed at that place on their way up, and after many 
privations, hardships and indignities were finally landed at 
Quebec. 

^ It is proper to state that this narrative .and the other Harris traditions were 
taken down by the author about the year 1850 from the relation of Moses Harris, 
nephew ot William, the principal actor in this life drama, by whom my informant 
had heard the events related many times. In one respect, and perhaps without 
sufficient cause, I have varied my account from the original version as given to 
me ; which made the date of the capture of the Harrises and other prisoners at 
the time of Burgoyne's advance, which the following reminiscence would seem to 
confirm ; for William's son Benjamin informed me that his father's name was 
afterwards found on the muster and pay rolls in Sherwood's possession, as one of 
the militia drafted for that emergency, and that he was present in the fort as a 
soldier, and was made a prisoner at the time of the surrender of Fort Anne. It is 
gratifying, also, to record his justification of the surrender ; inasmuch as, according 
to his judgment, the fort was wholly untenable against any considerable force. 

Previous to the descent of Burgoyne from the north, the colonial authorities 
had taken the precaution to disarm the disaffected, so far as they were known to 
be such, among the residents of Charlotte county. 

Among others thus deprived of their arms was one Joseph Brayton, a tory, 
who had lived in Hartford, Washington county. After William Harris had re- 
covered from his wounds sufficiently to bear the fatigues and hardships of the 
camp, he was drafted into a company of militia then stationed at Fort Edward. 
Being destitute of arms, the commandant of that post, after listening to the narra- 
tive of his captivity and escape, told him to go into the armory, and select any 
gun that he liked, and he would make him a present of it. He accordingly se- 



486 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

Here the captives were ransomed from the savages, and be- 
came prisoners of war. For a period they were held iu close 
confinement, but after a while, the rigor of their discipline was 
somewhat relaxed, and the old man was permitted to follow the 
occupations of farming and also of dressing and tanning deer- 
skins with which he was familiar. In due course of time, he 
with other prisoners was sent to Halifax, and exchanged, after 
which he returned to his former home in Dutchess county. 
' The younger Harris, with thirteen other prisoners, through 
the same tory influence that had made both his march, and 
imprisonment, of unusual rigor and severity, was placed for 
more perfect security, where they were guarded by a patrol of 
soldiers and kept at work. With the opening of spring, a 
yearning for freedom possessed the hearts of the prisoners, and 
they concerted a plan for escape, which was afterward matured 
and carried into efi'ect as follows : A boat from the main land 
furnished them daily with provisions, and such necessary sup- 
plies as their condition required. From these supplies, they 
commenced saving up from their daily rations, such portions as 
could be most easily preserved, until they had accumulated 
sufiicient to last them for three days. 

When the critical moment of departure arrived, however, only 
seven of the fourteen could be prevailed upon to undertake the 
perilous journey. 

The most the others would do, was to take a solemn oath 



lected a liandsomely mounted, highly finished rifle, which had heen taken from 
the tory above named, to which Harris gavfe the name of Old Brayton. 

This gun he used during his term of service, and took home with him when he 
was discharged. Sometime after peace was declared, Moses Brayton purchased 
from his father a farm in the north part of Kingsbury. He called one day with 
his brother Joseph at the Harrises, and invited William to meet him at a certain 
tree which constittited a part of the boundary of the Brayton farm, remarking 
casually that he had better bring his gun along, as they might see some game. 
Harris assented and taking the precaution to load the gun, met the Braytons at 
the hour and place agreed upon. After some irrelevant conversation, Moses in- 
quired of Harris, if that was not his brother Joseph's gun 1 To this Harris re- 
plied that it was a present to him, and detailed the circumstances connected with 
the gift. Moses then asserted his brother's title to the gun and that Harris must 
give it up. The latter declared very emphatically that he should not, whereu])on 
Moses approached him in a threatening manner saying they would have it, if they 
had to take it by force, upon wliich Harris stepped back, cocked the gun and 
jiresented it, exclaiming with an oath " if you do, you will get it blazing." Ap- 
preciating his resolute and determined manner, they desisted, and allowed him 
to return home with his gun, without further molestation. 



THE HARRIS TRADITIONS. 487 

not to make any disclosure or raise any alarm which would 
lead to their apprehension, until the evening following, when 
the sentries were changed, and the discovery would be inevita- 
ble. They seized the boat which brought their provisions in 
the morning, and made their escape during the forenoon, laud- 
ing upon the south shore of the St. Lawrence, on the borders 
of the vast wilderness stretching towards the New England 
colonies. Harris being an excellent woodsman here took the 
lead, and they struck boldly into the wilderness, pursuing their 
way southward for several days arM nights with but little rest 
and scant refreshment, husbanding their slender stock of pro- 
visions to the utmost. These soon gave out and they were 
obliged to depend upon such chance fare as the forest afforded. 
At length, utterly worn out with fatigue they made a halt, and 
to avoid the intolerable annoyance of the musquitos and flies, 
it was proposed to build a fire, or more properly a smudge^ 
as it is called in woodman's parlance. 

Harris opposed the projegt, and endeavored to dissuade them 
from it, on the ground that it would inevitably lead to their dis- 
covery and recapture, if they were pursued, which was exceed- 
ingly probable. He was overruled, however, by the majority, 
and a place was selected on a low marshy spot of ground, where 
the fire was started and then smothered with damp, rotten 
wood, which prevented it from blazing and made a dense, heavy 
smoke which kept off the insects. Around this they camped 
for the night, and exhausted with the protracted march, and 
unwonted fatigue the entire party were very shortly buried in 
a profound sleep. 

About midnight they were aroused from their slumbers by 
a volley of musketry, by which one of their number was killed 
outright, and two others were desperately wounded. Harris, 
who was a large, muscular man, with limbs powerfully knit 
together, and of herculean proportions and strength, arose in 
time to parry a blow from a tomahawk, which was aimed by a 
gigantic savage at one of his companions. The Indian imme- 
diately grappled with him, and after a struggle for some 
minutes Harris succeeded in throwing him upon the now brightly 
blazing fire, when putting his feet upon his neck he pressed the 
savage's head beneath the flames. At this juncture, a near 
neighbor and former friend of Harris before the war, a toryby 



488 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

the name of Cyreaus Parks, approached him with his musket 
clubbed, and ordered him to release the savage.^ 

This he refused to do, and as he drew back, to strike him, 
Harris exclaimed, " you wont kill an unarmed man will you 
Parks, and an old neighbor too ?" Parks made no reply, nor 
for an instant wavered in his fell purpose, and the blow de- 
scended. Harris warded it oif as well as he could with his arm, 
which was broken by its force, the remainder of the blow falling 
upon his head, the lock of the gun cutting a large gash through 
the scalp, down the sides of the head to the ear. 

Harris fell stunned, and remained insensible for many hours. 
"When he awoke to consciousness, he found another gash on the 
opposite side of his head, caused by the blow of a tomahawk, 
two wounds upon his forehead caused by the muzzle of a 
musket, jammed down with considerable force, with the intent 
of despatching him, and a bayonet thrust in the chest, which 
had been given, to see if he was still alive. All his companions 
were gone, as well as his coat, shoes, and knapsack, which he 
had taken off the evening before, and which had served him as 
a pillow during his fatal sleep. He staggered to his feet, dressed 
his wounds as well as he could, slung his broken arm through 
his neck handkerchief, and maimed and crippled, resumed his 
slow and toilsome progress towards home. 

He subsisted upon roots, leaves and herbs such as he could 
find suitable for the purpose upon his route, and an occasional 



■ Cyrenus Parks had a brother named Joseph, who, after the war, lived on his 
brother's place, near neighbor to William. As he was a whig and patriot in senti- 
ment, he and the Harrises were very amicable in their relations, until a mis- 
understanding arose between them in regard to some business transaction, when 
a gradual coolness ensued, which, for a while, estranged them. One morning 
Joseph called upon William, manifesting a disposition to conciliate and make 
friends again. In great good humor, he related several anecdotes, and border 
adventures, until he thought his listener had reached a genial frame of mind ; 
when leading his way quietly and gradually to the subject, he asked William if 
he would not be willing to overlook the past, and forgive his brother Cyrenus, if 
the latter would make a suitable acknowledgment, and ask his forgiviness. 
Springing from his seat in a tempest of rage, the old scout replied with an oath : 
" No, he tried to kill me in cool blood, and if I ever get a chance I'll shoot him." 
Joseph still pressed and argued the matter until Harris's suspicions were aroused, 
and he exclaimed : " Joseph, Cyrenus is at your house, and if he wants to live he 
had better keep out of my way." 

The next night Cyrenus made his escape to Canada. The yjopular tradition that 
Harris tracked him to the St. Lawrence river and shot him as he was crossing 
that stream, is declared by the family to be vvitliout warrant, and untrue. 



THE HARRIS TRADITIONS. 489 

frog dressed with his remaining hand, aided by his teeth, and 
eaten raw. 

At length he came out on the bank of a stream. While 
standing upon its gravelly beach, looking around for materials 
with which to construct a raft, the stream being deep and rapid, 
and he unable to swim, he suddenly caught sight of two men 
cautiously reconnoitering from some distance above him. He 
immediately concealed himself among the thick bushes and 
rank vegetation along the stream, and crept back in the woods 
to an old tree top, which had been his place of concealment 
and lodging the night before. 

After awaiting some time, and reflecting that his situation 
could be made but little worse even by a return to captivity, 
he resolved to go back and surrender himself to the lurking foe. 
He accordingly went back and again discovered the two men 
cautiously peering at him through the brushwood. Stepping 
boldly out in sight, he beckoned to them to approach, when, to 
his great joy, he found that they were two Dutchmen from the 
Mohawk valley, comrades of his, who had also escaped on the 
night of the attack. 

They dressed his wounds which were found in a putrid con- 
dition, and swarming with maggots. They also adjusted his 
broken arm, dressing it with splints prepared from barks of 
trees and bound it together with his handkerchief. The next 
day they constructed a raft, and crossed the stream. Fortu- 
nately, Harris had a hook and line in his pocket, and coming 
to a good sized brook, they encamped, and caught a fine string 
of trout, which they cooked and ate, the first warm meal they 
had enjoyed since they left the island. 

Continuing their journey, they came after some days' travel 
upon a small clearing and log house. 

One of the three went forward, after carefully and cautiously 
reconnoitering to see that no enemy was around, and begged of 
the woman of the house. She proved to be French. They 
were still in Canada. 

She gave the messenger to understand that she had no food 
to give, that her husband was away from home, and that their 
place was visited almost daily by armed bands of Indians and 
tories. 

A loaf of corn bread baked in the ashes was, after some 
search, discovered carefully hidden away, which the fugitive 

62 



490 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

eagerly seized and carried to his companions. They made 
what haste they could to get out of this dangerous locality. 
After many more days' wandering, they came out upon the settle- 
ments of the Lower Coos, now Bellows Falls, on the Connec- 
ticut river. Here the trio parted, the two Dutchmen proceed- 
ing to Cherry Valley by the way of Albany, and Harris re- 
paired to Il^ew Perth, now Salem, ^ in Charlotte county, where 
his wounds were first regularly and properly dressed by Dr. 
Williams, then member of the colonial legislature, and colonel 
of militia. His wounds were a long time in healing.^ After 

' During his convalescence, lie stayed with Abner Carswell of Salem, who was 
a distant relative. — Relation of Benjamin Harris. 

" The following story is related by the late David Wilson, Esq., in an article 
entitled " The Pioneer's Revenge." 

" An Indian doctor, in his periodical peregrinations was passing Harris's house, 
on his route to a neighboring swamp to gather herbs and roots for his simple 
materia medica. Harris's children, who inherited all their sire's antipathy for the 
aborignes, insulted the medicine man with blackguard and missives until he lost 
all patience and threatened to tomahawk them. His menace, though intended 
only to frighten the troublesome urchins, was sufficient for Harris ; seizing his rifle, 
he followed the unsuspecting and imoffending disciple of Esculapius to the 
woods, and, if tradition may be credited, shot him through the head, and sunk 
the body in the deep, sluggish brook which found its way through the middle 
of the morass. 

Although no one at the time knew with certainty what had become of the 
Indian doctor, the report darkly hinted that Harris had done his business for him, 
amply confirmed by his well known antipathy to the red race, reached the tribe, 
and according to their invariable custom, a powerful warrior was deputed to re- 
taliate the injury, by the death of the murderer. ***** 

The brave, sent to avenge the death of the medicine man, lurked about the 
precincts of Harris hollow for some days without discovering himself, lest he 
should excite suspicion. At length observing a single man hoeing corn in a field 
adjacent to lus retreat, he made up to him and civilly requested to be directed to 
Harris's cabin. The savage had never seen the foe of his race and knew not that 
he was addressing the redoubtable Leather Stocking himself, or the mission might 
have found a speedy end in the death of one or the other of the implacable foes. 
Harris at once penetrated his design, and comprehended at a glance the extent 
of his own danger, and with a characteristic coolness proceeded to anticipate it. 
" Harris is a neighbor of mine," he said, " it is two miles to his house by the road, 
but if the other pleased he himself would conduct him thither by a short route." 
The savage assented, and the settler, shouldering his hoe, led the way to the ad- 
joining woods. Watching a favorable opportunity, the treacherous guide leveled 
a blow at the head of the confiding savape with his hoe, and felled him to the 
ground with a single stroke. Quickly dispatched, the son of the forest was as 
quickly buried, and Harris returned home from tlie deed of blood in moody silence 
***** Harris hollow was thenceforth unmolested, and its original 
proprietor lived to rehearse, in garrulous old age, to its prosperous and rapidly 
increasing population, the oft repeated tale of the " Pioneer's Revenge." 



V 



,\ 



ANCIENT DESCRIPTION OP THE TOWN. 49 

his recovery it is stated that he served as a minute man, or one 
of the reserve militia until the close of the war. 

As a fittino^ close to this chapter, we append the following . \^ 
description of Queeusbury and Glen's Falls as they appeared to 
a visitor at the end of the year 1780.^ 

* * * * " On leaving the valley, and pursuing the road to 
Lake George, is a tolerable military position which was occu- 
pied in the war before the last ; it is a sort of entrenched camp, 
adapted to abattis guarding the passage from the woods, and 
commanding the valley. ******* Arrived at the height 
of the cataract, it was necessary to quit our sledges and walk 

' Travels in North America in the years 1780, 1781, and 1782, by the Marquis 
de Chastellux one of the forty members of the French academy, and major general 
in the French army, under the Count de Rochambeau. Eng. Translation, London, 
1787, vol. I, pp. 419-23. 

Some vindication of the memory of Col. Sherwood seems called for in this con- 
nection from the unj ust aspersions against his reputation which have been handed 
down not only in popular tradition, but perpetuated in published official docu- 
ments.' Some of the crade statements in fire side stories conveyed the impro- 
bable and monstrous charge that he had been bought up and bribed to surrender 
by the enemy. There were stories, too, of a private conference between the two 
commanding officers, before the capitulation, which lasted many hours. 

That these charges were utterly without foundation, should be apparent to any 
candid and unprejudiced person, when it is borne in mind, that the investing force 
outnumbered the garrison, over ten to one ; that they were better armed ; that the 
fort itself was a weak, wooden structure ; and the garrison short of ammunition, 
having only ten rounds to a man. 

This opinion is more than sustained by the following extract from a letter 
written by Stephen Lush of Albany, Oct. 13, 1780, to Governor Clinton.' When 
" summoned by Major Carleton of the enemy, he refused, but upon parading their 
forces, amounting to 850 British, Indians and tories, in view of the garrison, they 
surrendered prisoners of war." 

An article in Loudon's New York Packet, and American Advertiser, October 
19th, 1780, states as follows. "They" (Carleton's party) " having cannon with 
them, and the fort being only stockaded, every shot made a break. It was, how- 
ever, defended by Captain Sherwood, with the greatest gallantry. "^ One of the 
traditions related to the author by Moses Harris was, that the investing force set 
fire to the fort before the surrender, by firing hot cannon shot against and into it. 

Taking these statements in connection with the fact that Sherwood was ap- 
pointed to various offices of trust and responsibility, both civil and military, with- 
in a short period after the termination of hostilities, and while the knowledge and 
memory of these events was still fresh in the public mind, it would seem that 
these calumnies must, for all time, fall pointless and innocuous to the ground. 

1 lu Governor Clinton's report of thisaffiiir to Washington he says : "The little post and 
garrison of Fort Anne, appears to me to have been surrendered through treachery or coward- 
ice." — Sparks's LeMers to Washington, vol. iii, p. 1.33. 

The same charge was repeated by Washington himself, probably on the same authority. 

" Uough's Northern Invasion, p . 89 . 

3 Hough's Northern Invasion, p . 122. 



492 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

half a mile to the bauk of the river. The snow was fifteen 
inches deep, which rendered this walk rather difficult, and 
obliged us to proceed in Indian file. In order to make a path, 
each of us put ourselves alternately at the head of this little 
column, as the wild geese relieve each other to occupy the 
summit of the angles they form in their flight. But had our 
march been still more difficult, the sight of the cataract was an 
ample recompense. It is not a sheet of water as at Cohos, and 
at Totohaw ; the river confined, and interrupted in its course 
by diffiBrent rocks, glides through the midst of them, and pre- 
cipitating itself obliquely, forms several cascades. That of Cohos 
is more majestic, this, more terrible ; the Mohawk river seemed 
to fall from its own dead weight; that of the Hudson frets, 
and becomes enraged, it foams, and forms whirlpools, and flies 
like a serpent making its escape, still continuing its menaces 
by horrible hissings. ***** On their return, the 
party stopped again at Fort Edward to warm by the fire of 
the officers" who command the garrison. They are five iu 
number, and have about one hundred and fifty soldiers. They 
are stationed in this desert for the whole winter." 




^ei^^t^^^^^tA^^ 



^ 




XX 



GEN. STARK RESUMES COM^IAND. 493 



I 




CHAPTER XV. 

Gen. Stark Resumes the Command of the Northern Depart- 
ment — Troubles on the Border — Destitution op the Troops — 
Suspected Persons removed from the Front — The Vermont 
Controversy — Warlike Rumors — Block-House erected at 
Saratoga — Termination op the War and Declaration op 
Peace — Election op Town Officers — General Washington 
visits the Town — Appearance of the Village — Settlement 
Progresses — First Quaker Meeting House built — Adven- 
ture OF Peter Peck — Annoyances from Wolves — Murder op 
Daniel Fairchild — The Grave Yard at the Round Pond — 
Number op Voters in Town — Liquidation op Quitrents — 
Visit op Jefferson and Madison — Conclusion. 

[OR the two years following the events narrated in the 
last chapter, the history of Queensbury remains a 
blank, so far as the town or other local records are 
concerned. 

By an order dated at ISTew Windsor, June 25th, 1781, General 
"Washington directed General Stark to assume the command of 
the northern department, with instructions to establish his 
head quarters at Saratoga.^ 

At this time, all the continental troops had been recalled to 
the south. The quota detained for the protection of this ex- 
posed quarter, consisted of a few levies of raw militia from New 
York and New England. The thinly settled territory now 
embraced by the fertile and populous counties of Washington 
and Saratoga, was the frequent scene of robberies and murders. 
The whole country north of Albany, was infested with bands 
of tories, and lawless vagabonds who, under the shelter of the 
British authorities at Ticonderoga made bloody reprisals, and 
wrought out savage and cruel retribution for real or fancied 
wrongs. The country was demoralized, and the irregular, half 

' The following is a copy of the order. " You •will be pleased, therefore, to re- 
pair to Saratoga, and establish your head quarters at that place, retaininpr with 
you four hundred of the troops frona Massachusetts and sending the other two 
hundred to Col. Willett, who will remain in command upon the Mohawk river, 
as his popularity in that country will enable him to reader essential services there." 
Stark's Memoirs, p. 211. 



494 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

fed and worse armed militia afforded but little protection against 
the thoroughly appointed and well disciplined forces of the 
enemy. So critical was their situation (from the want of sup- 
plies), that in a letter to the governor, of May 3d, General Clin- 
ton mentions the fact that a small scout, commanded by a cor- 
poral, in the neighborhood of Fort George, having captured a 
party of the enemy, with a packet, had been bribed to release 
them, for a guinea each, and two silk handkerchiefs.^ The 
troubles with Vermont contributed largely to the insecurity of 
the New York frontier, and under color of negotiations with 
the partisans of that territory, frequent incursions and forays 
were made on the exposed settlements north of Albany. Ballston 
was harried and burned by bands of tories and Indians, one of 
which was led by the infamous Joe Bettys. In return, and by 
way of offset, " over sixty families suspected of disaffection to 
the American cause, were removed from Ballston and vicinity 
by Captains John Carlisle and Oothout accompanied by a small 
party of Indians. Being distressed for provisions, they drew 
very liberally from the stores of the disaffected.^ 

Suspecting treasonable correspondence to be going forward 
between the Vermont leaders, and the British authorities, 
General Schuyler once more called into requisition the services 
of Moses Harris, and Fish,^ who were set to work to ferret out 
the intrigue, but there is no evidence at hand to show that 



1 American Barder Wars, by William L. Stone. 

^Idem. " Ballstown is, I am told, a pass through which the enemy will pro- 
bably advance." Gen. Heath to Gen. Stark, Sept. 24, 1781. — Memoir of John 
Stark, p. 2G0. 

' Among the Clinton papers on file in the State Library at Albany is a com- 
munication from Harris, showing that he had been in conference with a party of 
the enemy from Canada, among whom were David Higginbottom, Caleb Closeu, 
and Andrew Rakely {See ante, pp. 447. and 4G7), under the command of Ensign 
Smith, formerly of Albany, and revealing a plot by which the people of the grants 
(Vermont) were to lay down their arms, and the British were to advance to the 
south end of Lake George and erect fortifications with a view to the command and 
occupation of the contiguous country. 

" Schuyler was not at that time in the army, having exchanged the military 
for the civil service of his country two years before. Still his military exertions 
were almost as great, and his counsels were as frequently sought and as highly 
valued, as tliough he were yet in command of the department. Added to which, 
he had been specially charged by the commander in chief with the prosecution 
of all practicable measures for intercepting the communications of the enemy." — 
Btone'a Life of Brant, vol. ii, p. 175. 



r 



TROUBLES ON THE BORDER. 495 

their efforts were successful to any considerable degree, or 
reached any practical result. The sturdy Indian fighter and 
hardy borderer were no match for the astute politiciaus of Ver- 
mont, who managed for two years to play fast and loose with 
the Canadian authorities, and the continental congress, being 
loyal and true to neither. 

During the entire season, the camp at Saratoga was kept astif 
by the frequent rumors of intended forays, ^ or the intelligence 
of some freshly committed outrage along the border. Occa- 
sional small parties of the enemy were captured, or a venturous 
spy returned, whose stories of warlike preparations in Canada, 
did not tend to allay the gloomy apprehensions of the feeble 
garrison. 

Early in the fall, another descent was made by the way of 
the Sacandaga upon the doomed settlement of Johnstown, and 
the adjacent region, by Maj. Ross, and the notorious Walter 
Butler, at the head of a large body of tories and Indians. The 
expedition proved disastrous to the invaders, who were attacked 
and repelled with considerable loss by Col. Marinus Willett, 
and the force under his command, Butler himself being killed 
on the retreat.^ 

On the 11th of September, General Stark at Saratoga wrote 
to Major General Heath as follows: "I have this day, almost 
certain intelligence of there being a large detachment of the 
enemy at St. Johns destined for this quarter."^ 

' Extract of a letter from Col. Claus to Capt. Brant, dated Montreal, March 3d, 
1781. " I was informed that the rebels had posted themselves at a place called 
Palmerstown, about twelve or fifteen miles west of Saraghtoga. * * * His Ex- 
cellency, General Haldimand, * * * has for some time intended sending a party 
of about sixty chosen loyalists, under the command of Major Jessup, toward Fort 
Edward ; this party might join Joseph against Palmerstown." — " Happily," says 
Mr. Stone, " from some cause unknown, this project, so well devised, and apparently 
so near its maturity, was never executed." — Stone's Life of Brant, vol. ii, p. 144. 

Memoir of John Stark, p. 225. John St.oik." 

To Col. Henry Laurens : Albany Aug. 27th, 1781. 

Dear Sir : By a spy, who has been on board of the enemy's ships at Crown Point, 
we learn that their intention is to make a push upon this place, to alarm the New 
Hampshire grants by way of Castleton, and gather all the tories in this quarter, 
who are to be met by General Howe's army near this place. Therefore I should 
advise you to keep your men in readiness. 

Your Obed't Serv't, 

" Campbell's Annals of Tryon County, p. 208. 
^ Memoir of John Stark, p. 249. 



496 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

On the 12th of October following, Genl. Schuyler, in reply- 
to a communication from Gen. Stark, wrote : " At 6 o'clock 
this morning, I was favored with yours, announcing the arrival 
of the enemy on the south end of Lake George."^ 

These and many other reports and stories, some conjectural 
and contradictory, are to be accounted for and reconciled only by 
taking into account the negotiations going forward between 
Vermont and Canada, and the movements that were being 
made by Gen. Haldimand during that period, to conciliate the 
people of the grants on the one hand, and intimidate and occupy 
the attention of the troops on the New York frontier at the 
same time. General Enos, ^ who was stationed at Castleton 
with a detachment of the Green mountain boys, was fully in the 
secret of the cabal who were carrying forward the intrigue ; and 
just maintained the semblance of activity, which playing at war 
in the interest of the conspirators. ^ 

At the close of the year, in partial compliance with a request, 
of General Stark for the better protection of the northern 
frontier, Lord Stirling, then in command of the department, 
ordered two block houses to be built at Saratoga. In Novem- 
ber a general order of thanks was issued to the troops of the 
department. "With this act, excepting an insurrection among 
the troops at St. Coick and White Creek, arising from the 

* Memoir of John Stark, p. 271. 

" Headquarters Castleton, Oct. 26th, 1781. 
" " General Enos to General Stark 

" Dear Sir : — Captain Salisbury this instant returned as a scout from the Mount, 
■which he left last evening. He lay in sight of the enemy's works the chief part 
of the day. They are repairing the fortification at [Ticonderoga], and have 
covered the long barracks. Nearly two hundred cattle were employed in drawing 
cannon, etc., from their boats. 

"Behind the old French line appeared a large number of smokes, where it is sup- 
posed the chief part of their army is quartered. Colonel Walbridge informs me 
by express, that he has not as yet made any discovery from Lake George and that 
quarter. He has my directions, in case of any important discoveries, to make im- 
mediate returns to you. 

"I am. Sir, Your most Obed'th'ub'l Serv't. 

Memoir of John Stark, p. 283. " Roger Enos." 

Nov. 2, 1781, Gen. Enos writes another letter to Gen'l Stark from Fort Anne, 
asking for cartridges and bread ; and speaks of hearing firing both of cannon, and 
small arms at Fort Edward that morning, and announces his intention of return- 
ing to Castleton. — Idem., p. 284. 

» Stone' 8 Life of Brant, vol. ii, pp. 201-5, inclusive. 



CLOSE OF THE WAR. 497 

Vermont troubles, the events of the campaign and of the war 
were ended. 

"On the 19th of April 1783, the day which completed the 
eighth year of the war, the cessation of hostilities with Great 
Britain, was, by order of General Washington, proclaimed in 
the American camp."^ — On Tuesday, the sixth day of May fol- 
lowing, the customary town meeting was held, and the following 
list of officers elected. 

Moderator — Abraham "Wing. 

Town Clerk — Benjamin Wing. 

Supervisors — ISTehemiah Seelye, and Phineas Babcock. 

Constables — William Robards, and David Buck. 

Assessors — David Bennett, Wm. Robards and James Higson. 

Pathmasters — Benjamin Wing and Silas Brown. 

Overseers of the Poor — Abraham Wing, andBenedickBrown. 

Collector — Nehemiah Seelye. 

Treasurer — Abraham Wing. 

Fence Viewers, and Prisers of Damage — Phineas Babcock, 
David Bennett and Jeremiah Briggs. 

The first event following, to which the finger of tradition 
points, is the visit of General Washington and a portion of his 
staff, during the month of July (probably the 19th or 21st), on 
his way to inspect the posts at Lake George, Ticonderoga, and 
Crown Poiut.^ On this occasion the cavalcade halted, and 
hailing Walter Briggs, who was at work in an adjoining field, 
he came up and with a tin pail helped the party to water from 
the upper branch of the Butler brook. 

The fruits of a permanent peace soon became apparent, and 
the wilderness border again put on the aspect of culture and 
thrift. " The first clearing (at Glen's Falls), was limited to the 
hill which rises from the falls, and in the year 1783, presented 
only a wheat field, with a solitary smoke on its border, and 
two other dwellings in the vicinity of the forest. These houses 
were built after the architecture of the first settlers, of a few 
rough logs, placed one upon another, the interstices filled with 
straw, and a mixture of mud and clay. But in the year 1784, 
an individual of the name of Haviland, (Abraham, a blacksmith 
by calling), erected, to use a graphical expression, a small 

^ Seafs Pictorial Histoi'y of the American Revolution. 
" iSpai'/cs'g Life and Writings of Washington, vol. viii, pp. 465, 467, 488. 
63 



498 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

framed house, near the hotel in the upper part of the village,* 
which was soon followed by that now occupied by Mr. lioyal 
Leavins,^ completed upon the model of an old fashioned Massa- 
chusetts country house ; which two buildings were consequently 
the first of the kind which graced our landscape."^ 

On the 26th of January 1784, the inhabitants of Fort George 
were annexed to the Queensbury district by a vote of the in- 
habitants.* The same year, by act of legislature, the name of 
Charlotte was changed to that of Washington county. 

* On the site now occupied by Ferguson's store, corner of South and Glen 
streets. 

^ The dwelling now owned and occupied by J. W. Finch, Esq., since the above 
was written added to and much improved. 

^ From a series of articles entitled " Recollections," No's, one, two, and three, over 
the signature of" Harlow, " published in the Wai're7i Messenger, of Feb'y 5th, 12th, 
and 19th, 1831, in which the writer continues as follows : 

" As early as 1786-7, the fruit of their reflections were seen, a small, rudely 
constructed school-house now the residence of Mrs. Flannagan. (Now the site 
of the author's residence No. 17 Elm street). * * * 

" The village of Glen's Falls, was formerly known by the name of Wing's Falls, 
a name probably derived from Mr. Abraham Wing, one of the first emigrants to 
this place, who lived in a log building which occupied the spot of Mr. L. L. 
Pixley's store. * * * 

" Then followed the dams, the one above, and the other below the falls, and the 
mill seats afforded by them, owned and occupied by Mr. Benjamin Wing, and 
Gen. (Warren) Ferriss. Only one of these dams is still remaining — that at the 
head of the rapids, now a bank of five feet high, and about 600 broad, over which 
the river pours its waters in one unbroken sheet. * * * An Indian, for a 
trifling reward, paddled his canoe to the brink of the precipice, and then shot like 
lightning into the gulf to disappear forever, and the same is related of many 
others who dared the fury of the cataract. 

" But it is safe to leap from any of the rocks, at the southern point of the island 
or as far west as the bridge. — This was fully attested by Cook, who jumped 
three successive times from the old king-post, into the water beneath (the gulf 
at the foot of the arch), and returned, exclaiming like Patch ' there's no 
mistake.' " 

* Who the residents were, appears from the following, taken from the N. T. 
legislative papers. (Jonathan Pitcher^^hen kept a sort of rude tavern at the head 
of the lake. Hugh McAuTey'was also another inhabitant of Lake George at that 
time. Robert Nesbit, who was in trade there for several years, did not come until 
June, 1785. 

" The Petition of Jonathan Pitcher, Gurdon Chamberlin, Wyatt Chamberlin 
and Isaac Doty, residing on a tract of land at the South end of Lake George com- 
monly called Garrison Land, humbly sheweth ; That your Petitioners, some time 
since, being desirous to emigrate from the Old Settlements, and to fix ourselves on 
the Frontier of the State, did obtain, from the Surveyor Genl. of the state. Leases 
of the Lands whereon we now reside, which Leases being only for the Term of One 
Year, induceth us to address Your Hon'ble Body on the Subject. Your Petitioners 
having removed our families to this place at great Expense from a very considera- 
ble distance, ardently wish to continue on the same, and do most humbly pray that 



THE PECK FASHLY. 499 

Mrs. Emma Goss, but lately deceased, who with her father, 
James Stevenson, removed to the town in 1785, stated that 
there were then but 18 families in the whole town. The de- 
struction of the mills during the revolutionary war, compelled 
the inhabitants for a while to go, either to Jessup's Falls, or 
Fort Miller, for their bread stuifs.^ About this time the first 
place of worship in town, a log meeting house,^ was built by 
the society of Friends on the south side of the Half-way brook, 
adjoining the west side of the road leading to Dunham's bay. 
Here too was kept the first school in town, and here was the 
first burial ground, where the fathers of the town, and their 
first-born, rested undisturbed by the shrill cry of the panther, 
or the nightly long drawn howl of the predatory wolf. 

Among the new comers at this time was the Peck family. 
Peter Peck, a cooper by trade, and the father of Reuben, 
Daniel and Edmund Peck, moved to this place about the year 
1785, from Litchfield, Connecticut. He purchased a large 
farm, or rather tract of wilderness stretching from the Big Cedar 
swamp on the east, to the road leading to Dunham's bay on the 
west. A family by the name of Varney then occupied a log 
house situated just north of the Half-way brook, on the west 
side of the Bay road. Peck made it his home with these 
people for a short time and was persuaded by them to build his 



our Leases may be renewed for as long a Term of time as your Hon'ble Body sliall 
deem most eligible ; or that any other mode may be adopted, whereby your peti- 
tioners may be allowed to occupy the premises. — Lake George, Dec. 30, 1783. 

' " Uncle Silas Brown used to back grists over the mountain by a line of blazed 
trees, afterwards a bridle path to Jessup's grist-mill, in what is now called Lu- 
zerne, during and after the revolution. The mill was located on a small stream 
near Thurlow Leavin's house." ^- Relatio7i of Joseph Varney, 11th Jan'y, 1868. 

[Josiah Varney, Joseph's father, married Lydia, a daughter of Benedick Brown. 
Joseph was born 30th Oct., 1787, in a log dwelling which stood on the west side 
of Bay road about 3 miles north of the village.] 

" Had to go to Jessup's patent to mill when father first came here in 1785." — 
Relation of Mrs. Emma Goss, July, 1860. 

" Its dimensions were about 20 X 30 feet. It stood within the limits of a small, 
enclosed parcel of ground, used even to the present day as a place of burial. It 
has been described by those remembering it, as a long, low building, roughly 
ceiled on the inside, divisible by a movable or sliding partition into two parts, 
and provided with rough benches for seating the congregation. It had two en- 
trance doors and was lighted by small windows placed high up towards the roof. 
Here the first and second generations of the Friends of Queensbury met and wor- 
shipped, and in the limits of that field their remains repose without a monument 
or mark to designate their resting place from the common earth by which they 
are surrounded. 



500 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURT. 

house at a point nearly half way between the Ridge and Bay 
roads, they representing it, probably for the sake of having 
nearer neighbors, to be the most eligible and desirable point on 
his tract for that purpose. 

He accordingly commenced his clearing, dug a well, but find- 
ing the land too low for a dwelling abandoned the improvement, 
and erected a substantial log house on the Ridge road, then 
called the new road, on the site of the brick house now owned 
and occupied by Mr. Amos Graves. His nearest neighbor 
north lived in a log house situated to the east of the old Roger 
Haviland farm house. The spot it occupied is now part of an 
open, cultivated field. There was another log dwelling on the 
ground now covered by the Reuben Numan residence. There 
were also one or two other log houses in the neighborhood, 
which comprised all that portion of the then existing settlement 
to the south of what was subsequently designated as Sanford's 
ridge. The road was then newly cut through the forest, the 
stumps still remaining, with fallen trees, decayed logs and rub- 
bish laying across. It was hardly a respectable bridle path, and 
the unbroken wilderness stretched away from it on either hand 
for miles and miles save the three or four small clearings around 
the buildings above mentioned. 

During the summer of 1786, Peck accompanied by his young- 
est son, Edmund, then a lad five or six years old, started on 
horseback for the purpose of assisting to secure the harvest of 
a neighbor, David Ferriss, who lived in a small house on the 
side hill just south of the Half-way brook — on the east side of 
the road now leading to the Oneida. At night-fall he started 
on his return with his little boy seated before him on the horse. 
The dense forest soon shut out the last faint light of day, and 
he was obliged to stumble forward in the dark as best he might, 
trusting mainly to the sagacity of his horse for keeping in the 
road. At length, in endeavoring to guide his horse around 
the upturned roots of a large, fallen tree which obstructed the 
way, he found to his consternation that he had lost the path. 
After spending some considerable time in a fruitless eflfort to 
regain the road, groping his way from tree to tree in the thick 
darkness, the thought occurred to him that a loud outcry might 
arouse the family he had just left — and that some one would 
come to his assistance with lanterns or torches. He accordingly 



THE PECK FAMILY. 501 

commenced shouting at the top of his lungs, and presently fan- 
cied he heard the call returned. He called again, and the 
answer was repeated more distinctly. The calls and answers 
were then repeated in rapid succession, until he discovered to 
his horror that it was no human voice which responded to his 
alarm, but that of the dreaded panther. With an alacrity 
inspired of terror, Peck dismounted, and feeling his way rapidly 
along, at length he came to a large tree with low branching 
boughs to one of which he fastened his horse, and climbing the 
tree, found a refuge for himself and boy, on a large projecting 
limb. Through the entire length of that long and dreary night, 
the panther prowled around this retreat, at one moment threat- 
ening an attack upon the frightened horse, and at another 
stealthily rustling through leaves of the adjacent tree tops, 
awaiting an unguarded moment to make his fearful spring. A 
few raps with a stout cudgel on the trunk of the tree, from time 
to time, served to deter the brute from making his attack, until 
the morning light made its most welcome appearance, when the 
ferocious monster with low growls slunk away towards the re- 
cesses of the Big Cedar swamp. As soon as the light became 
distinct enough to enable the benighted traveler to find his 
way, he descended from his perch, and to his great satisfaction 
discovered the road at no great distance, and remounting the 
horse with his boy — soon after reached his home in safety. 
On his way he saw another huge panther apparently asleep in 
the top of a high tree, but on his return with a rifle the animal 
was gone. It had very probably made its way back to the big 
swamp which for a long period afterward afforded a safe covert 
for these and other ferocious denizens of the forest. 

The inhabitants here in those early times were much annoyed 
by wolves which ravaged sheep-folds even when under the very 
eaves of the dwellings. One instance is narrated of these rave- 
nous brutes killing and gnawing oft' the heads of sheep that 
were yarded in a covered log pen. Within the present century 
the tradition is preserved in the Pitcher family, then living on 
the confines of the "Wild Cat swamp, less than a mile west of 
the heart of the village, of the yearly ravages of the wolves 
among: their stock, and of the various devices resorted to in 
endeavoring to frighten and keep them away. Then, too, the 
rocks and ledges along the river were one continuous den of 
rattlesnakes, and the swamps, forests, and hill-sides from Sara- 



502 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

toga to Lake George were infested bj this dangerous and 
malignant reptile. 

For a period of nearly fifty years after the settlement of the 
township, an annual bounty, varying in amount from five to 
twenty dollars, was voted for each wolf killed in the town. 

The rattlesnakes were slowly but surely exterminated by the 
hogs that ran half wild among the unfenced commons on the 
borders of the settlement. 

In the early days of which we write, but little need was had 
for litigation. Whatever troubles and difficulties originated 
between the members of the society of Friends, were adjusted 
among themselves; and with all a rude sense of equity prevailed 
as a rule of action ; and some rough border justice was pre- 
ferred to the intricate formalities of legal statutes as expounded 
by the courts. 

Among the earliest settlers in the western part of the town 
was Daniel Fairchild. He dwelt in a clearing on the eastern 
slope of the Luzerne mountain ; near the road which now leads 
west from the Forge pond. 

Being suspected of a crime which shall here be nameless, a 
warrant was obtained from a justice of the peace named Josiah 
Russell, living on what is known as the Crannell place above 
the old church at Jessup's Little falls. This precept was rather 
strongly worded, requiring that the suspected party be brought 
before him immediately, " either dead or alive." It was placed 
in the hands of one of the Ortons for execution. Accompanied 
by a posse of eager and excited volunteer constabulary, he pro- 
ceeded, armed for the occasion, as the process implied, to the 
dwelling of the culprit to make the arrest. The place was 
reached at dark, and the house surrounded so as to cut oft" the 
possibility of escape. Fairchild became alarmed at the sight 
of such a crowd of men, and possibly overheard some threats 
and menaces. He ran out of the house into a shed near by, 
when one of the party mistaking his intentions, and supposing 
that he meditated either resistance or escape, deliberately drew 
up his musket and shot him dead in his tracks. Esquire Rus- 
sell was afterwards tried for this act, at a court held in Fort 
Edward, and only escaped conviction for manslaughter, through 
some legal technicalit3\ 

The oldest monumental inscription in town, is on a quaintly 



INDEMNITY FOR LOSSES IN THE WAR. 



503 



ground 



at the Round 



carved gravestone in the little hurial 
pond near the Oneida.^ 

A registry of a senatorial election, under the property quali- 
fication in 1786, shows the names of thirty-six voters, an evi- 
dence of the rapid increase of the population in the few years 
that had elapsed since the war.^ The losses which the inhabit- 

• Mention is elsewliere made of the Baptist cliurch, at this place. The burial 
ground belonged to this society, being deeded to it by Augustine Odell for that 
purpose. The following is a copy of the inscription, mentioned. 

0! Relentless Death ! 

To the Memory of Mrs. 

Lydia Sargent the amiable and 

virtuous consort of Doctr. Isaac 

'Sargent of VVestfield, & eldest 

Daughter of William Robards 

Esq. & Mrs. Phebe his wife of 

Queensbury, who died October 11th 

1794 ; aged 18 years 10 Mo. 

and G days. 

As here you see my body lie. 
Dear Mortals that are passing by 
Let this to you a warning be. 
That you prepare to follow me. 

"^Registry of an Election in Queensbury in 1786. — This is supposed to contain 
the names of all who were then qualified to vote for Senators and AssembljTuen. 
Att an Election held in Queensbury, May the 3 by an adjurnment. 
1786 

Candates for Candates for 

Sinnet Assemblymen 



fcj) 



Electors Names. S 

Abrom Wing, 

William Tripp, 1 

David Seelye, 1 

David Bennett, 1 

Thomas Tripp 1 

Elisha Folger, 1 

Bennedick Brown, 1 

Justice Brown, 1 

Yolentine Brown, 1 

Ebeuezar Buck, 1 

Howgal Brown, 1 

Jeremiah Briggs, 1 

Silas Brown, 1 

James Tripp, 1 

Jonathan Tripp, 1 

James Stevenson, 1 



1 
1 
1 
1 

1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 



PQ 



;g ■ ;2 



> 


02 


^ 


02 


p^a 


Fh 








■n 


a 


r=! 






13 


OJ 




w 


^ 


m 



504 



HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 



ants had suffered during the war, and the unsettled condition 
of the country had disabled them from paj^ing their quitrents, 
now lapsed to the state by the change of government; and the 
back arrearages had accumulated to a sum that was quite be- 
yond their means. In order to obtain some indemnity for the 
sacrifices and losses suffered by reason of the war, a plea was 
made and allowed in abatement and liquidation of all just in- 
debtedness and future claims from the state.''^ 






Josi Varney, 

Hosea Howard, 

James Butler, 

Richard Bennet,. . . , 

William Guy, , 

Walter Briggs, . . . , 

John Martin, 

David Bennet, 

Edward Fooller, . . 

Natlianiel Odle, 

Nathaniel Varney,. , 
Jonathan Hubbel,. . 
Stephen Lapham,. . , 
onathan Pitcher, . . 

Henry Martin, , 

Benjamin Wing,. . . 
Phinhehas Babcock, 

James Hixen, 

Stephen Howard,. . . 
Miles Washborn,. . . 









1 










1 










1 


1 


1 
















1 










1 




1 






1 




1 1 
















1 










1 










1 










1 










1 










1 




1 






1 










1 










1 















' The following extracts from the Town Records will serve to verify the fore- 
going statement, as well also to show who were the sufferers and the amount of 
their claims for indemnity. It constitutes a rare and valuable link in the chain 
of historical narrative. 

Auditors Office, New York, 10th December 1789. I do hereby certify that 
I have receiv'd Sundry Certificates signed by Ebenezer [Russel Judge for Wash- 
ington County setting forth that the following persons were possessed of the 
number of acres Set opposite their respective names in a Pattent granted Daniel 
Prindel & others 29th May, 1763, and that on account of the war they were oblig'd 
to quit their Farms viz 



Acrs. 

Lot 29 Abraham Wing Junr 150 

29 & 82 Nath. Babcock, Willett & 

Daniel Wing, 450 

102 Asa & Parks Putnam, 250 

31 Daniel Hull, 150 

23&29 Charls Lewis, 150 

7 Ebenezer & Nathaniel Ful- 

Igp 250 

22 & 23 Russeil Lewis, '.",*.'. 150 

37 Anstice & Sarah Hicks, . . . 250 
36 & 29 Mary Lewis, 160 

103 Howgil k, Timothy Brown, 250 
39 Silas Brown, 150 

Acres 4050 

And I further Certify that the above mentioned Persons are thereby discharged 

from paying all past and future Quit Rents for the Quantity of acres set opposite 



Acrs, 

87 Truelove Butler 150 

77 William Roberts Junr., & 

Ebenr. Roberts, 250 

26 & 2 William Robberts 110 

82 & 20, 35, 36, & 40, William Wing, 90 

36 Andrew Lewis, 150 

38 Benedick Brown, 150 

23 James Higson, 150 

23 Abraham Wing, 150 

15 Benjamin & Nehemiah 

Wing, . 250 

2 Reed Ferriss & Caleb Powel, 250 



COMPARATIVE VALUATION OF PROPERTY. 



505 



As an evidence of the comparative valuation of property in 
the town at this time we append the following minute of pro- 
ceedings of the board of supervisors of the county of Washing- 
ton, held at the house of George Kilmer in the town of Argyle 

their respective names amounting in the whole to four thousand and Fifty Six 
acres in the above Pattent. Peter S. Curtenius State audr 

In Patent granted to Daniel Prindle «&c for 23000 acres Land in Albany County 
d'ted 20th May 1762 @ 2 | 6 Sterling ^ 100 acres ^ annum 

510 acres Reed Ferriss from 20th May 1763 to 20th May 1787 is 25 years 

Deduct 8 17 years @ 22 | 4 £18,, 19„ 4 

Received New York 27th May 1787 from Reed Ferriss "^ the hands of Jonathan 
Akin Publick Securitys which with the Interest alow'd thereon amounts to 
Eighteen Pounds Nineteen Shillings & four pense in full for the arrears of Quit 
Rent on 510 acres in the above Patent — 

£18:19:4 Peter S. Curtenius Receiver of Quit Rents 

Pattent granted Daniel Prindle & others for 23000 acres Land in Albany County 
20th May 1762 at 2 | 6 Sterlg ^ 100 acres "§ annum 
Nathaniel Stevenson ) from 20th May 1762 
Lot No. 27 25 acres J to 29th Sept. 1787 is 

Y. 
25 
Deduct 8 
14 years Commutation 



M. 

4 



D. 
9 

17„ 4„ 9@10 I lli:9„9:10 
10 I UM 7„13„2 



17„3 



Receiv'd 28th Decemr 1789 from Enoch Hoag Publick Securities with Interest 
calculated to 27 Septemr 1787 amounting to Seventeen Pounds Three Shillings 
in full for Quit & Commutation on Two Hundred & Fifty acres Land in the above 



Pattent. 

POSSESSORS NAMES. NO. ACRES. NO. LOTS. 

Valentine Brown, 150 41 

Schuvler Brown, 100 41 

Phebe Kobberds, 145 26 

Joseph Hepburn, 150 49 

Ebenezer Fuller Junr.,. . 150 50 

Benjamin Fuller, 100 50 

Edward Fuller, 125 38 

Patrick Hepburn 1.50 48 & 57 

Matthew Fuller, 125 33 

Justus Brown, 125 39 

John Akin, 150 84 

Albro Akin 100 84 

Sarah Akin, 150 84 

Thomas Worth, .125 51 

Barsil^a Worth 125 51 



Peter S. Curtenius State audr 

POSSESSORS NAMES. NO. ACRES. NO. LOTS. 

John Totfv, 150 44 

Hulet Toffy, 100 44 

James Ferriss, 150 57 

Nathaniel Taber, 100 57 

William Taber, 100 3 

Ephraim Woodard, 150 3 

David Ferris, 100 12 

Benjamin Collins 100 12 

Ichabod Merritt, 150 1 

Joseph Merritt, 100 1 

James Stephenson, 125 88 

Jafob Stevenson, 150 90 

Stephen Stephenson, ... . 100 90 



3595 acres 

Washington County ss. I do hereby certify that the above named persons in 
the County of Washington has given me Satisfactory proof that they Resided and 
are owners on their Respective Farms annexed to their Names in pattent granted 
to Daniel Prindle and others Dated 20th May, 1762, and that on account of the 
Late war were respectively obliged to (luit their Farms by tlie Incursions of the 
enemy. Joiix Williams 

one of the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas Washington County. 
Given under my hand this 28 day of December, 1791. 
G4 



506 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

on the 1st Tuesday in September, 1786. The town of Queens- 
bury was represented on this occasion b}' Phineas Babcock, Esq. 
The quota of the respective towns was equalized as follows : 

£ .s d. 

Argyle, 59 6 7 

CrownpoiDt, 300 

Granville, 67 16 

Hampton, 21 4 

Hebron, 63 11 3 

Kingsbury, . 50 17 

Queensbury, 50 17 

Salem, lUl 13 7 

Westfield, 33 18 

Whitehall,,, 50 17 



Total £800 5 

AuDiTOUS Office New York 33d March 1791, 1 certify that in Consequence of 
a Certificate signed by John Williams Judge for Washington County (of which 
the within is a true copy) the within named Persons are Thereby exempted from 
the payment of all past and Future Quitrents on the number of acors set opposite 
their Respective Names in the within Certificate. 

Peter S. Cuktenius. 

State Audr. 
In Patent jjranted to Daniel Prindle &c for 32000 acres Land in Albany County 
dated 20th May 1752 @ 2s 6d Sterlg "^100 acres "^ annum. 

510 acres Reed Ferriss from 20th May 1762 
to 20th May 1787 is 25 years 

Deduct 8 — 17 years 

@ 22s 4d £18 " 19 " 4 

Rece'd New York 20th May 1787 from Reed Ferriss 1^ the hands of Jonathan 
Akin Public Securities which with the Interest allow'd thereon amounts to 
Eighteen Pounds Nineteen Shilling & four pence in full for the Arrears of Quit 
Rent on 510 acres in the above Patent. 
£18 " 19 " 4 

Peter S. Curtenius Receiver of Quit Rents 

Possessora Names. Numbers. No. Lots. 

Peter Peck, 130 25 & No 3 Town Plot 

Reuben Peck, 125 30 

William Tripp, 125 11 

Jonathan Tripp, 125 11 

. Jeremiah Brigos, 150 31 

Nathaniel Varney, 160 30 ' 

Total 805 

Auditors Office New York 1st april 1790 
I do Certify that in consequence of the within Certificate the Persons therein 
named are exempted from all i)ast & future Quit Rent for the number of acres set 
opposite their respective names amounting in the whole to Eight Hundred & Five 
acres Land in the within mentioned Patent, 

Peter S. Curtenius State audr 



THE CONCLUSION. 507 

In 1791 the two future presideuts, Jefferson and Madison, 
passed through this town, on their way to visit some of the 
many scenes of historic interest at the north. ^ During the few 
years following, which rounded up the century, mercantile and 
manufacturing interests gathered rapidly here ; professional men 
of rare talent were attracted to the place by the promise of its 
rapid growth, and its resources, even in, that early day, were 
operated with an energy, which in many instances commanded 
success, and won an enviable repute for industry and enterprise. 

The flow of emigration, which, in less than fifty years, has 
since peopled the once dense wilderness, and tar reaching 
prairies of the mighty west with a busy and teeming population, 
in the closing years of the century following the revolution, 
spent its first feeble waves along the sea shore, and the tide 
waters of our navigable rivers. During the first decade of the 
present century, that tide instead of seeking the then miasmatic 
flats, and rich alluvial pla,ins of the Genesee country, set rapidly 
northward along the old military routes where less than half a 
century before, mighty armies, flushed with the pride of con- 
quest, glowing with honors won on foreign fields of glory, dis- 
solved and disappeared beneath the sturdy blows and unerring 
rifle shots of the hunter chivalry which guarded our northern 
border. 

At that period, when the cities of the west and interior were 
the haunts of savages and beasts of prey. Glen's Falls was a 

County of Washington. I Certify that the above named Persons in the County 
of Washington lias given me satisfactory Proof that they resided on tlieir Respect- 
ive Farms anex'd to their Names in a Patent Granted Daniel Prindle and others 
Dated 20 of may 1763 and that on account of the late War ware respectively 
Obliged to Quit their said Farms by the Incursions of the Enemy Witness my 
Hand this 7th of December 1789. 

John Williams, Jud Curio. 

' Extract of letter from Thomas Jefferson, secretary of state, to Genl. Washington . 

" Bennington 5th June 1791. 
Sir ; In my last letter from Philadelphia, I mentioned that Mr. Madison and 
myself were about to take atrip up the North river, as far as circumstances should 
permit. The badness of the roads led us quite on to Lake George, where, takino- 
boat, we went through that, and about twenty-five miles into Lake Champlain. 
Keturning then to Saratoga, we concluded to cross over through Vermont to 
Connecticut river, and go down that instead of the North river, which we had 
already seen ; and we are so far on that route. In the course of our journey we 
have had opportunities of visiting Stillwater, Saratoga, Forts William Henry and 

George, Ticonderoga, Crown Point, and the scenes of General Stark's victory." 

Sparks' s Letters to Washington, vol. iv, p. 374. 



508 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 

thriving settlement whose opening business prospects and natural 
advantages, were attracting capital, and gathering the germs of 
that thrift and success, which have since built up our village to 
its present prosperous condition. 

We have seen in the sketches of its churches, and the notices 
of its business and leading men, the gradual progress and devel- 
opment of the town and village through all its transitions ; until 
from a scattered forest hamlet, it has reached almost the propor- 
tions, wealth, and importance of a city. 

Upon the future historian will devolve the duty of perpetuat- 
ing the events of more recent interest and importance, which 
relate to the town and its citizens; while to the author is left 
the satisfaction of believing that he has rescued from oblivion 
many facts, and details connected with the past, which if left 
ungleaned, would now have been lost, or with difficulty at- 
tained even by an enthusiastic antiquarian. 




THE END. 



ERRATA. 

T&se 11 Head line for M. read iV. 

41 Note, seventh line, lor 1837, read 1637. 

61 Note, eighteenth line, for 1791, read 1780. 

63 Ninth line from top for Patter read PoUer. 

81 Fourth line from bottom for 1781 read 1780. 

82 Fifth line of note, for 1781, read 1780. 

82 Sub note, for batteaux read bateau. 

83 For Anburg's read Anbury's. 
193 Head line for Chuuches read Churches. 
200 Eighth line from top for Walla, read Wells. 
220 Last line but one from bottom of page, 

for Chatauguay read Chautauquay. 



GENERAL INDEX. 



[Acknowledgment.— This being the only opportunity remainin"', the other portion of the 
work bavin;,' gone to press, the author herewitli tenders liis thanTcs to Mr. J. Miinsell, the 
publisher, aud also to Col. J. L. Cunningham and S. R. Stoddard of this village, for courtesies 
rendered in connection with the publication of this work.] 

*** Explanation.— Inasmuch as the Civil List was arranged alphabetically in the body of the 
work, it was considered superfluous to repeat the names'in the index, already swollen to a 
magnitude unlooked for by the author. The names embraced in the military rosters have also 
been omitted, Otherwise the index is believed to be suUiciently voluminous and complete. 



Abenakies, The, 13. 

Abercrombie's advance and defeat, 321. 

Acknowledgements, vii. 

Action near Gage's bill in 1780, 480. 

Action at Rogers's rock, 818. 

Action at Sabbath day point, 1777, 420. 

Act of incorporation of the Episcopal 

Church at Glen's Falls, 246. 
Adirondack Confederacy. The, 1, 6. 
Adventures of Ezekiel Roberts, 422. 
Adventures of fugitives from the Mas- 
sacre at Fort William Henry, 310. 
Affair between Half-way brook and Ft. 

Edward, 316. 
Affair of Bloody run, 337. 
Algonquin Tribe, The, 4. 
Allen, John, of Argyle, and family, Mas- 
sacred by Burgoyne's Indians, 451, 

452. 
Amherst's Advance, 336, 340, 343. 
Amherst's Campaign, 301, 338. 
Armstrong Family, The, of Johnsburgh, 

231. 
Arnold's Expedition to Quebec, 406. 
Assault upon Diamond island, 458, 459. 
Attack upon Burgoyne's rear guard, 458. 
Attorneys, list of, 113. 
Authorities referred to in this work — 

Account book of Abraham Wing 
(the pioneer), 71, 

Addison's Work, 293. 

Agricultural Society of the State of 
New York, Transactions of, 26. 

Alden Memorial, 50. 

American Border Wars, by William 
L. Stone sr. , 494. 

American Military Pocket Atlas, 
Tlie, 169, 181. 

Anbury's travels in North America, 
83, 434. 

Ap])leton's Cyclopedia of Biogra- 
phy, 273. 

Baker, Miss Keziah, relation of, 
434, 453, 454, 466, 467, 468, 477, 



Authorities referred to in this work — 
Bancroft's Hist. U. S. A., 285, 315. 
Barber's Hist. Collections, 34, 453. 
Brodhead's Hist, of N. Y., 29. 
Buell Family, Genealogy of, by J. 

S. Buell, Esq., 44. 
Burgoyne's State of the Expedition, 

438, 450, 453, 453, 458. 
Butler's (B. C), Guide Book to Lake 

George, 28. 
Butler's (B. C), Handbook of the 

Adirondack Railway ,430, 431,433. 
Campbell, Archibald, Map of the 

Caldwell Estate, 48. 
Campbell's Annals of Tryon County, 

495. 
Carroll's Journal, 411. 
Catalogue of Maps in the State Li- 
brary at Albany, N. Y., 26. 
Chapman's Sketciies of the' Alumni 

of Dartmouth College, 44. 
Chastellux's Travels in North 

America, 272, 359, 362, 484, 491. 
Civil List of the State of New York, 

43. 
Clary, Mrs. Rachel, relation of, 426, 

43S. 
Clinton Mss., The, State Librarv at 

Albany, 130. 494. 
Colden's Account of New York, 34. 
Deavitt, John J., 58. 
Drake's Book of the Indians, 18,25, 

28, 29. 
Drake's Dictionary of American 

Biography, 314. 
Durfee's History of Williams Col- 
lege, 291. 
D wight's Travels, 18, 284, 291, 296. 
Evans's Analysis, 28. 
Ferriss, Mrs. Alfred, relation, 389, 

430. 
First Settlers of Albany County, by 

Prof. Jonathan Pearson, 357. 
Fitch, Dr. Asa, 14, 471. 



512 



HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 



Authorities referred to in this work — 

Fitch's History of Williams Col- 
lege, 291. 

Fitch's Hist. Survey of Washington 
County, 14, 26, 27, 29, 283, 303. 

Force's American Archives, 396, 
397, 399, 400, 404, 414, 416, 417. 

Fortieth Congress, The (Biograph- 
ical sketches of), 108. 

Gallatin's Synopsis, 26, 28, 29. 34, 

Gazetteer of Washington County, 
by Allan Corey, 388. 

Genealogies of the First Settlers of 
Schenectady, by Prof. Jonathan 
Pearson, 357. 

Gentleman's Magazine, The, 387. 

Gibson, Hon. James, 49, 57. 

Gill, Captain, An Indian hunter, 32. 

Glen's Falls Spectator, The,215,249. 

Goldsmith's (Oliver), Works, 29. 

Gordon's Gazetteer of New York, 
26, 28, 30, 32, 33. 

Goss, Mrs. Emma, relation of, 499. 

Graydon's Memoirs, 299. 

Griswold's Poets and Poetry of 
America, 257. 

Hall's History of Vt., 351. 

Harris, Benjamin, relation of, 448. 

Harris, Moses, relation of, 445. 

Hay, Hon. William, 22, 28, 40, 50, 
54, 72, 353, 391, 425, 428,437, 451, 
452, 459, 479. 

Hennepin, 27. 

Historical inquiry concerning 
Henry Hudson, by John Meredith 
Head jr., 276. 

Historical Magazine, The, 352. 

Historical Sketch (of the Presbyte- 
rian Church of Glen's Falls), by 
the Rev. A. J. Fennel, 208, 213, 
214. 

Hoffman's (Charles Fenno), Vigil 
of Faith, 28, 30, 32, 33, 34, 35, 

Hoskin's History of Vermont, 476. 

Hough, Dr. F. B.. 481. 

Hough's Northern Invasion, 121, 
470, 476, 477, 479, 481, 482, 491. 

Hough's History of St. Lawrence 
and Franklin Counties, 25, 27, 31, 
32, 34, 274, 275, 447. 

Howell, George R., Assist. State 
Librarian, 223. 

Hoyt's Antiquarian researches, 29, 
31, 296, 299, 313. 

Insurance Age, The, 172. 

Irving, Washington, 33. 

Johnson's Heports, 353. 

Josseiyn, an early writer, 25. 

Journal of the Legislative Council 
<jf New York, 387. 

Journal ot'tlie New York Provincial 
Congress, 448, 463, 404. 

Kellogg's Historical Discourse (con- 
cerning Whitehall), 337. 



Authorities referred to in this work — 
Kip's Early Jesuit Miss., 24, 29, 315. 
Knox's Historical Journal, 178, 279, 

318, 337, 342. 
Laws, Session, of New York, The, 

33, 34. 
Lossing, Benson J. , Field Book of 
the Revolution, 337, 453. 
Life and Times of Maj. Gen. 
Philip Schuyler, 276, 280, 
321, 405, 413, 417, 418, 420, 
436. 443, 453, 463. 
The Hudson from its sources to 
the sea, 26,28, 31,33,352. 
Loudon's New York Packet and 

American Advertiser, 491. 
Macauley James, the Historian, 30. 
Macauley's History of New York, 

25, 27, 347. 
Magazine, The Knickerbocker, 404. 
Memoirs, of an American Lady (Mrs. 
Grant), 321, 377. 
Gen'l Riedesel, Trans, by Wil- 
liam L. Stone jr., 147, 434, 
456, 459. 
Madame Riedesel, Trans, by 

Wm. L. Stone jr., 147, 456. 
Maj. Gen'l. John Stark, 178, 
453, 459, 460, 462, 464, 465, 
468, 493, 494, 495, 496. 
Robert Rogers, the partisan, 

178. 
The Rev'd Ammi Rogers, 245. 
The Rt. Rev'd Philander 
Chase, D.D., 245. 
Minutes of the Washington (Bap- 
tist) Union Association, 198. 
Mitchill, Doctor, 25, 28, 32. 
Mohicans, Cooper's Last of the, 163. 
Morgan's League of the Iroquois, 

with Map, 26, 27, 32, 33, 34. 
Morse's Universal Geography, 27, 

31. 
Munsell's Annals of Albany, 25, 28, 

32, 48, 84, 246, 349, 350, 354. 
Munsell's Historical Series, 284, 
301, 317, 332, 339, 340, 342, 348, 
369. 
Murray's British America, 25. 
Neilson's Burgoyne's Campaign, 

420, 475. 
Niles's American Revolution, 424. 
O'Callaghan, E. B., LL D., 121,421, 
453. 
Works, 32. 
Calendar of English Mss., 71, 

371. 
Calendar of N. Y. Hist. Mss. 
Rev. Papers, 48, 54, 395, 408, 
416, 419; 420, 421, 444. 
Calendar of The New York 
Land Papers, 24, 25, 27, 28, 
29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 54, 
229, 230, 356, 448. 



INDEX. 



513 



Authorities referred to in tliis work — 

O'Callaoflian's Documentary History 

of New York, 25, 36, 37, 384, 

287, 296, 301, 316, 334, 368, 
370, 387, 393, 894, 896, 419, 
479. 

Documents relatinorto the Colo- 
nial History of N. Y., 34, 25, 
28, 29, 30, 33, 34, 286, 287, 

288, 291, 298, 299, 300, 303, 
305, 312, 318, 335, 338, 339, 
843, 345, 400. 

History of New Netherland, 34, 
39. 30, 33, 34, 35, 384. 

Paine, Dr. Lemuel C, Letter from, 
303, 31)3. 

Palmer's Hist, of Lake Champlain, 
393, 434, 436, 437. 

Parkman's Jesuits in North Ame- 
rica, 378, 380. 

Parks, Daniel E., Esq., 434. 

Peck Genealogy, The, by Darius 
PeckofHudson, N. Y., 41. 

Peck Genealogy, The, by Ira B. 
Peck of Boston, Mass., 41, 114. 

Peck Mss., The, 158. 

Peck, Mrs. Peter, relation of, 458. 

Plymouth Record, 55. 

Pouchot's Memoirs (Hough's trans- 
lation), 311, 336, 337. 

Pownal, T., M. P. On the Colonies, 
27. 

Pownal, T., M. P. Topographical 
Description of North America ; 
with map, 25, 26, 28, 39, 30, 34, 
285, 318. 

Prime's History of Long Island, 
212. 

Queensbury town record, 50, 77, 
143, 167." 355. 

Randall's Digest, 67. 

Ranger, Samuel, relation of, 326. 

Records of the Oneida Baptist 
Church, 193. 

Revised Statutes of N. Y., 143. 

Robards, Judge, docket, 19, 102. 

Robards, Judge, Mss., The, 158. 

Rogers's Journal, 337, 334. 

Ruttenber's Indian Tribes of the 
Hudson, 27, 29, 31, 33, 33, 34. 

Ruttenber's Obstructions to the 
Hudson river, 397, 401. 

Sabattis, 24. 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 81, 
33, 35. 

Sabele, 24, 25, 28,29, 30, 81, 88, 84, 85. 

Schoolcraft, Henry R., 3, G, 24, 27, 
30, 33, 34. 

Schoolcraft's Notes on the Iroquois, 
24, 25, 29, 33. 

Schoolcraft, Indian and his Wig- 
wam. 36, 27, 29. 

Scott, George G., relation of, 38. 

Sears's Pictorial Hist, of the Revolu- 
tion, 459, 497. 

65 



Authorities referred to in this work — 
Session Records of the Presbyterian 

Church, 314, 319. 
Sexagenary, The, 304. 
Shew, Godfrey, 33. 
Simms's Trappers of New York, 25, 

28, 30, 31, 32, 33. 
Smith's History of New York. 349. 
Smith, The, Rev'd Courtney, 20. 
Smith, The Rev'd Reuben, 21. 
Spaffbrd's Gazetteer of New York, 

3, 35, 36, 39, 30, 33. 33, 143. 
Sparks's Correspondence of the Rev- 
olution, 458, 484. 
Letters to Washington, 438, 443, 

461,491, 507. 
Life and Writings of Washing- 
ton, 415, 449, 455, 480, 483, 
484, 497. 
Stebbins, Ralph S., relation of, 31, 

33, 50. 
Stedman's History of the American 

War, 394, 398, 416, 483, 434, 450. 
Stone's Life and Times fjf Brant, 18, 

395, 413, 414, 416, 460, 463, 465, 

466, 468, 475, 476, 494, 495, 496. 
Life and Times of Red Jacket, 
36, 33. 
Street, Alfred B., Frontenac, 36, 33. 
Temperance, A History of, in Sara- 
toga Co., by Hon. Wm. Hay, 46. 
The Salem Press, 471. 
The Troy Times, 30, 33. 
The Warren Messenger, 316, 498. 
Thompson's Gazetteer of Vt., 50, 

385. 
Transactions of The N. Y. State 

Agricultural Society, 503. 
Troy Conference Miscellany, 231 . 
Upfold, Rt. Rev. George, Letter 

from, 246. 
Varney, Joseph, relation of, 499. 
Warburton's Conquest of Canada, 

315, 343. 
Warren County Messenger, The, 

235. 
Washington County Gazetteer, 191. 
Wilson's (David) Life of Jane 

McCrea, 54, 450, 453. 
Wilson's orderly book of Amherst's 

Campaign, 178, 384, 301, 317, 318. 

319, 331, 333, 339, 340, 343, 348, 

369. 
Wilkinson's Memoirs, 416. 
Wing, Abraham, 40. 
Wing Mss., Tlie, 47, 48, 55, 58, 81, 

84. 85, 100, 101, 130, 158, 353, 

373. 375, 439, 460, 473. 
Woodworth's Reminiscences of 

Troy, 309. 
Autographs, Fac-similes of — 

Amherst, Maj. Gen. Sir Jeffrey, 348. 
Brown, Benedick, 45. 
Butler, Truelove, 83. 



514 



HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 



Aiitograplis, Fac-similes of — 
Fennd, Kev. A. J., vi. 
Fexriss, David, 60. 
Ferriss, Reed, 101. 
Hioson, James, 73. 
Hicks, Jacob, 84. 
Johuson, Maj. Gen'l. Sir William, 

301. 
Jones, Daniel, 72. 
Keeuan, John, 103. 
Moon, John, 333. 
Park, Daniel, 404. 
Putnam, Asaph, 63. 
Sherwood, Adiel, 493. 
Tearse, Peter B., 53. 
Vernor, John, 47. 
W^ing, Abraham (the pioneer), 55. 
W^ing, Abraham (the grandson), 80. 
Wing, D. W^,66,83. 



Ballston, burned in 1781, 494. 
Ballston laid waste in 1780, 484. 
Baptist church at the Round pond. 

The, 189. 
Baptist church of Glen's Falls, The, 197. 
Baptist churches of Queensbury, The, 

1138. 
Barnes family massacred by Indians, 453. 
Battle of Fort Ann, 488. 
Battle of Lake George, The, 397. 
Biographical Sketches of — 

Alden, Dr. Seth, 50. 

Alderman, Rev'd J. W., 338. 

Amherst, Maj. Gen. Sir Jeffrey, 331. 

Babcock, Pluneas, 57. 

Babcock, Rev'd J. H., 359. 

Baker, Albert jr., 483. 

Barnes, Linus B., 160. 

Bates, Rev'd. Henry H., 360. 

Berrv, Capt. Sidnev, 224. 

Boardman, Rev'd William, 313. 

Bostwick, Rev'd S. B., S. T. D., 353. 

Bronson, Elder Asa, 300. 

Brown, Daniel V., 45. 

Buell, Horatio, 44. 

Butler, Truelove, 83. 

Butler, Zachariah, 76. 

Champlain, Samuel de, 373. 

Cheney.Hon. Albert N. (portrait), 50. 

Cheney, Hiram, 50. 

Clark, Dr. Billy J., (portrait) 38. 

Coe,Rev. Jonas, D.D., 309. 

Covvper, Jeflfrey, 71. 

Davis, Hon. I. "j., 106. 

Duer, Hon. William, 403. 

Emmons, Hon. Halmer H., 36. 

Eyre, Maj. William, 301. 

Fennel, Rev'd A. J., (portrait) 221. 

Ferguson, Elder Charles, 303. 

Ferguson, George, 58. 

Ferriss, David, 60. 

Ferriss, Hon. 0., (portrait) 107. 

Ferriss, John A., 100. 



Biographical Sketches of — 

Ferriss, Reed, 101. 

Folsom, John, 315. 

Gage, Maj. Gen. Sir Thomas, 838. 

(Toer, Walter jr. , 51. 

Glen, John jr., 356. 

Hall, Rev. Edwin, D.D., 315. 

Haviland, Gen. William, 317. 

Hawkins, Rev'd W^illiam George, 
355.; 

Hawley, Rev. Bostwick, D.D., 343. 

Hay, Hon. William, 45. 

Hendrick, King, (portrait) 398. 

Hicks, Jacob, 84. 

Higson, James, 73. 

Hitchcock, Dr. Jared, 113. 

Hitchcock, Dwight, 104. 

Hudson, Henry, 375. 

Jogues, Father Isaac, 277. 

Jones, Daniel, 73. 

Keenan, John, (portrait) 102. 

Lapham, Hon. Jerome, (portrait) 
155. 

Lewis, Andrew, 81. 

Little, Hon. and Rev. R. M., (port- 
rait) 171. 

Lyman, Gen. Phineas, 283. 

McDonald, Hon. W^illiam, (portrait) 
64. 

McVickar, Rev. Henry, ''53. 

Merritt, Ichabod, 73. 

Montressor, James, 348. 

Moon, Robert, 333. 

Morgan, James, (portrait) 174. 

Newton, Rev. E. H., (portrait) 317. 

Noble, Rev. Louis Le Grand, 257. 

Nordberg, Capt. John, 400. 

Oliu, Rev. Russell A., 264 

Parsons, Rev. Henry M., 222. 

Peck, Daniel, (portrait) 41. 

Peck, Hon. Bethuel, M.D., 113. 

Peck, Marvin R., M. D., 114. 

Putnam, Col. Israel, 316. 

Ray, Rev'd John W., 220. 

Robards, William, 61. 

Rogers, Major Robert, 314. 

Rodgers, Rev. Ravaud K., 313. 

Romans, Col. Bernard, 397. 

Rosekrans, Hon. E. H., (portrait) 43. 

San ford, George, 52. 

Sanford, Hon. George H., 49. 

Sheldon, Dr. N. E., 38. 

Sherman, Augustus, (portrait) 159. 

Sherwood, Capt. Adiel, 491. 

Sherwood, Capt. Seth, 119. 

Sickles, Gen. and Hon. Daniel E., 36. 

Skene, Major Philip, 386. 

Spooner, Rev. John Alden, 247./ 

Stark, Maj. Gen. John, 319. 

Stower, Dr. Asa, 61. 

Tearse, Hon. Peter B., 53. 

Van Wormer, Jacob, 423. 

Vernor, Hon. John, 47. 

Wells, Elder A. R., 300. 



INDEX. 



515 



Biograi")liical Sketches of — 

J^Villiams, Col. Ephraira, 28'.). 
/^ Winor^ Abraham (the pioueer), 55. 

Wiusr, Abraham (the grandson), 
(portrait), 78. 

WinjT, Daniel W., (portrait) 8". 

Winer, Halsey R., (portrait) G8. 
Blind rock, Tlie, (31, 73, 324. 
Blind rock, The, le<jend of, 14. 
Block house at the Half-way Ijrook, 71. 
Block house built at Saratoga in 1781, 

406. 
Bloody brook. The, 178. 
Bloody morning scout. The, 38, 179, 

293 295 296. 
Bloody 'pond, The, 48, 294, 295, 304, 

480, 482. 
Bloody pond, The, battle of, 299. 
Brown's Half way house, 163, 288, 294, 

479. 
Burbank, Capt., killed and scalped, 338. 
Burgoyne, movement to cut off his base 

of supplies, 457. 
Burgoyne's Advance, 435, 450. 
Burgoyne's Campaign, 433. 
Burgoyne's Surrender, 454, 460, 461. 
Buried treasure, 328. 
Burning of Kingsbury and Queensbury, 

453, 482, 483. 



Cabal, The Gates Conway, 461. 
Canajoliarie laid waste and destroyed, 

4( I. 
Cankusker bay. Lake George, 181. 
Capitulation and Surrender of Fort 

William Henry (1757), 308. 
Capitulation of Fort Anne in 1780, 479. 
Capitulation of Fort George in 1780, 481. 
Capture of Crown Point in 1759, 347. 
Capture of the Fort at Ticonderoga in 

1759, bv Amherst, 345. 
Carletou's raid in 1780, 73, 73, 76. 81, 

82, 162, 478, 480, 481. 
Carroll, Hon. Charles of Carrollton, 300, 

410. 
Carroll, The Rt. Rev. John, 410. 
Cedar swamp. The Big, 41, 82, 100, 145, 

162, 182, 501. 
Charlotte county, erected, 385. 

militia, 476. 

name changed to Washington, 498. 

troubles in, 463, 464. 
Cheshire's mill, 410, 418. 
Chipman, Capt. John, 476, 478, 479, 480, 

481. 
Churches of Queensbury, History of the, 

188. 
Church of the Messiah, Glen's Falls, 249. 
Civil list of the Corporation of Glen's 

Falls. 100. 
Civil list of the town of Queensbury, 36. 



Commutation for Quitrents in Queens- 
bury. 504, 505, 506. 

Copy of the original patent of Queens- 
'bury, 364. 

Corners, The 60, 186, 305, 212, 273, 390, 
413. 

Council of war, a, decides Crown Point 
untenable, 413. 

Court Martial for the trial of Gen. Phil. 
Schuyler, 462. 

Cowper, JefFrey, some account of, 373. 

Crane's mountain, 29, 413, 475, 479. 

Crocker, Levi, shoots a tory, 466. 

Crown Point seized by Carleton, 417. 



Death of Baron de Woedtke at the head 

of Lake George, 415. 
Death of Gen. Montgomery, 406. 
Dedication, IIL 
Defeat and capture of Capt. Burbank 

and party 338. 
Dellius grant, The, 349. 
Deposition of Ezekiel Roberts, 421. 
Description of Glen's Falls in 1780, 491, 

492. 
Destitution of the American troops, 435. 
Destruction of Fort George, 448. 
Diamond island (Lake (George) fortified, 

457. 
Diary of Abraham Wing on his first 

visit to Queensbury, 372. 
Dieskau's advance, 286. 
Disturbances at Fort Edward in 1775, 

404. 



Early settlement in Luzerne, Warren 

CO., N. Y.,431. 
East creek, Lake George, 72. 
Election of militia officers for Charlotte 

county, in the early part of the 

revolutionary war. 407, 408. 
Engagements and massacres at the Half- 
way brook, 322, 326. 
Engagements and massacres on the 

Lake George road, 307. 
Episcopal Church, 65, 83. 

in Queensbury, sketch of, 244. 
Erection of military post (subsequently 
enlarged and named Fort Am- 
herst), at the Half-way brook, 
302. 

the first grist mill in Queensbury, 
384. 
Escape of tories to Canada, 433. 
Excursion of Samuel Champlain into, 

northern N. Y., 272. 
Expedition and scout to Ticonderoga 

by Major Rogers, 334, 335. 
Expedition and scout to Ticonderoga by 

Capt. Putnam, 316. 



516 



HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY. 



First Court of Justice in Charlotte 

county, 387. 
First mills at Luzerne, 430. 
First National Bank of Glen's Falls, 

some account of, 1.58. 
First recorded senatorial election in 

Queensbury, 503. 
First religious meeting held in Queens- 
bury, 381. 
First saw mills erected in Queensbury, 

375. 
First settlement in Queensbury, 376. 
First white child born in Queensbury, 

377. 
Five mile run. The, 14. 
Flight of Sir John Johnson, to Canada, 

413. 
Forge pond. The, 148, 166. 
Form of oath used by the provincial 

concrress, 403. 
Fort Amherst, 146. 
erected, 336. 
Fort Anne, engagement of, 325. 

invested and taken 1780, 479. 
Edward, assault upon, 307. 

erected at the head of Lake Cham- 
plain, 327. 
George commenced, 342. 

small pox at, 414, 415, 416. 
taken possession of by the Ame- 
ricans in 1775, 400. 
troops ordered to winter quar- 
ters at, 1776-7, 417. 
Fortified camp established at South 

Glen's Falls in 1777, 443. 
Fort or military post erected on the 

Sacandaga river, 407. 
Fort Ticouderoga, captured, 397, 398. 

seized bv the revolutionists in 
1775, 397, 398. 
William Henry, attack upon (1757), 
305. 
begun. 284, 285. 
demolished, 312. 
Williams, 146. 
Franklin, Benjamin, and other commis- 
sioners pass through Queensbury 
on their way to Canada, 410. 



Gates, Maj. Gen. Horatio, appointed to 
the command of the northern army, 
455. 
Gilchrist family. The, 60. 
Gilliland, William, passes through 
Queensbury on his way to found a 
settlement at the north, 373. 
Glen Patent, The, 355. 
Glen's Falls Insurance Company, some 
account of, 170. 
when and how named, 359. 
Gooseberry mountain, 169. 



Graham, Oliver, some account of, 467. 
Half-way brook. The 14, 41. 60. 74, 76, 

144, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 163, 

167. 
Hammond. Thomas, 178, 181. 
Harris's, Bill, camp ground, 2. 
Harris's bay. Lake George, 2, 34, 178. 
Harrisena, 2, 143, 144, 150, 151, 163, 

178, 185, 190. 
Harrisena, patent of, 150. 
Harris family traditions. The 178, 444, 

445, 446, 447, 467, 485, 486, 487, 

488, 489, 490, 494. 
High, William, adventure of, 476. 
Howe's (Lord), advance, 320. 
Hudson, Henry, discovers and sails up 

the river bearing his name, 276. 
Hunter's bridge. The, 162. 
Hunting ground. The Indian, 2. 
Hunting hill, The, 145, 179. 



Illustrations, list of — 

Clark, Dr. Billy J., likeness of, 38. 
Cob-money, illustration of, 17. 
Indians on the war path, 282. 
King Hendrick, likeness of, 292. 
Little, Rev. and Hon. R. M., like- 
ness of, 173. 
Map of the Dellius grant, 351. 

Entrenchments and fortifica- 
tions at Ticonderoga, 1777, 
435. 
Old military routes between 
Lake George and Fort Ed- 
ward, 341. 
Scouting in 1778, 323. 
View of an early settlement in the 
forest, 380. 

Cosgrove Music Hall, 165. 
Early settlement at the Head 

of Lake George, 48. 
English church and Fort Fre- 
derick, Albany, 313. 
Fort William Henry, 306. 
Johnson Hall, 469. 
Peck and Delong's store, 46. 
Pro\ision sloop making its way 
with supplies up the river, 
418. 
The Arch and part of Glen's 

Falls, 156. 
Episcopal Church, 249. 
Ferguson Stores, 59. 
First National Bank, 157. 
Methodist Church, 240. 
Presbyterian Church, 204. 
Rockwell House, 183. 
Soldiers' Monument, 138. 
Union Church of East Lake 

George, 228. 
Village fountain, 168. 



INDEX. 



517 



Incursion of tories led by Sir John John- 
son in the month of May 1780, 475. 

Indian Council at the Boquet river, 44iJ. 

Indian kettles. The, 180. 

Indian treaty at the head of Lake 
George, 273. - 

Insurrection at St. Coick, 496. 

Introduction, 1. 

Investment of Fort Ticonderoga in 1759, 
344. 

Investment of Fort William Henry by 
Montcalm, 308. 

Iroquois Confederacy, The,l,2,3, 4, 6,7, 8. 
territory, 7, 8. 

Island, bv the river bridge, 179. 

Island, Wing's, 179. 



Jessup's battalion, 73. 

falls, 181, 183. 
Jogue's, Father, adventures and fate, 

277, 278, 279, 280. 
John's farm, 147, 456. 
Johnstown, tory raid upon, 468. 



Kayaderosseras patent, The great, 163, 

353. 
Kingsbury, patent of, 73. 

town line, 152. 

town of, 28, 47, 73, 103, 123, 142, 
149, 159, 180, 192. 

street, whig celebration at, 405. 
Knapi), Benjamin, adventure of, 481. 



Lake George, 169, 177, 182, 185, 186, 187. 

Local Directory, tabulated, 158. 

Long pond. The, 2. 145, 180. 

Losses in the revolutionary war, indem- 
nity for, 504. 

Lovelace, the tory, 431. 

Lydius, John Henry, 119. 
land grant of, 350. 
mills of, 4. 
bis settlement at Fort Edward, 352. 



McAuley's creek, 142. 

McDonald's bay. Lake George, 22. 

Manhattans, The, 3. 

Marauding expedition of Joe Betteys, 

with a party of Indians to Skenes- 

borough in 1779, 470. 
Massacre at the Cold brook, 328. 
Massacre at the Half-way brook, 302. 
Meadow run, The, 2, 145, 146, 148, 

163, 160, 180. 
Methodist church. The, account of, 229. 



Middleville, 151. 

Military rosters, 119. 

Mohicans, The tribe of, 3, 5, 6, 31, 33. 

Montressor's folly, 167. 

Moon's mills, 180. 

Morgan ford. The, 167. 

redoubt erected at, in 1777, 459. 
Moss street, 28, 73, 102. 
Mount Independence fortified, 436. 
Murderous affrays on the Lake George 

road, 304. 
Mud pond, 145. 



Names of localities in Queensbury, 158. 
Nations, The seven, of Canada, 4. 
Naval engagement on Lake Champlain, 

416. 
New England tribes. The, 5. 
Nichol's mills, 181. 
Nordberg, Petition of Capt. John, 400, 

401. 
Nonnan's bay, 181. 
Northern posts, threatened invasion of, 

in 1776, 416. 
Northwest bay on Lake George, 25, 27, 

181. 



Oak hollow, 181. 
Ogden's mill, 181. 

brook. The 145, 164. 
Oneida, The origin of the name, 152. 
Oneida The, 181. 
Outlet, The, 162. 
Ox, The scalped, 325. 



Parks family traditions. The, 358, 402, 

424. 
Parks, The tory, arrested, 464, 465. 
Pattens' mills, "140, 181. 
Paul,The Rev. Anthony Paul and family, 

some account of, 17. 
Pearl \'illage, 181. 
Physicians, list of, 113. 
Picket posts, the 3 in Queensbury, 146. 
Picket post erected near Sandy Hill, 

327. 
Pitcher brook. The, 146^.164. "- 
Pitcher tavern. The, 182, 147, 150. 
Pond, Long, 102, 182. ~^ 
Pond, Brown's, 163, 182, 
Pond, Tlie Little, 182. 
Preface, v. 
Presbvterian church The, Sketch of, 

204. 
Prindle patent, The, 163, 359. 
Proprietors of Queensbury ,names of the, 
374. 



518 



HISTORY OF THE TOWN OB^ QUEENSBURY. 



Proprietors of Queensbury — 

Meetings, records of, 373. 
Provision train attacked on tlie Lake 

George road, 31G. 
Putnam, Capt. Israel made a prisoner, 

326. 



Quaker (Friends) society organized, 883, 

460. 
Quaker Meeting House, The new, 153, 
153, 155, 183. 

The old, 57. 
Queensbury, Baptist Cliurcli of, 189. 
boundaries of, 143, 163. 
during the Great Rebellion, 131. 
military quotas of, 133, 134. 
oldest monument iu the town of, 

503. 
patent of, 56, 71, 100. 
proclamation by the governor for 

its settlement, 374. 
settlement of, at the close of the 

revolutionary war, 497, 498. 
some of the first settlers of, 388, 

389, 390. 
suflferiiig of the inhabitants of, du- 
ring the revolution, 409, 439, 

440, 441, 443, 473, 473, 474. ' 
suit relating to fii'st saw mill in 

town of, 374. 
survey of the township of, 363. 
topography and description of, 143, 

361. ^ 

visit of General Washington to, 

249, 497. 



Record of the first town meeting, 380. 
Reed's meadow creek, 181, 183. 
Retreat of the American forces from 

Ticonderoga, 436, 437. 
Revolutionary war, The beginning of 

the, 395. 
Ridge, The, 2,60,61, 62,64,65, 152, 155. 
Riedesel, Gen., constructs a fortified 

camp in Queensbury, 456. 
Riedesel, The Baroness and Lady Ack- 

land pass through Queensbury. 457. 
Roaring brook, 14() 

Robanls, William, capture and impri- 
sonment of, 433, 433, 434. 
Rock, The gr(!at, 183. 
Rockwell House, the, some account of, 

183. 
Rocky brook, 146, 163. 
Rogers, Capt. Robert, his famous scout, 

317. 
Round pond at the Oneida, The, 3, 79, 

149. 



Sabele and Sabattis, 23. 
Sand beach, Tiie, 185. 
Schaghticoke Indians, The, 1, 3, 4. 
Schuyler, Gen. Philip, placed in charge 
of the northern army, 405. 

superseded, 455. 
Scouting expeditions to Ticonderoga 

and Crown Point, 320. 
Seelye, Justus, adventure of, 474. 
Seizure of Fort Ticonderoga planned in 

1775, 395. 
Shad caught at Glen's Falls, 150. 
Six Nations, The, 4, 6, 7. 
Skenesborough, affair at, in the spring 
of 1779, 470. 

settlement of, 386. 

taken possession of, by the Ameri- 
cans, 399. 
Soldiers' monument, The, some account 

of, 136, 137. 
State dam. The, above Glen's Falls, 165. 
St. Francis Indians, The, 13, 13, 14, 34. 

destruction of their village, 13. 
Stockbridge Indians, The, 3, 6, 18, 29. 
Straits of the early settlers, 391. 



Territory of the Iroquois, 7. 

The northern frontier stripped of its 
resources, and cleared of its inhabit- 
ants in 1777, 449, 450. 

The town plot, 363. 

Threatened invasion of the northern 
settlements by the way of the Sa- 
caudaga river, 462. 

Tories, arrested in 1777, by Col. Gordon, 
of Ballston, 431. 
of the Saratoga district, 430, 432. 

Tory conspiracy in the spring of 1777, 
430. 
irruption into Tryon county in the 
si)ring of 1778, 465. 

Town officers, list of, 54, 55. 

Treasure hunting, 17. 

Twenty-second Regt. N. Y. Vols., 131. 



Union Church of East Lake George, 

sketch of, 338. 
Hall, 164. 
Hotel, 164, 186. 
Meeting house, 164. 



Valuation, comparative, of real estate, 

after the revolution, 506. 
Van Wormer's bay, Lake George, 3 186, 



INDEX. 



519 



Vermont, controversy, The, 392, 893. 
declares itself independent under 
the name of New Connecticut, 
419. 
suffers from tory incursions, 476. 
Villatje fountain, descrix>tion of, 1(58. 
Visit of Jefferson and Madison to Queens- 
bury in 1791, 507. 
Vocabulary of Indian names, 23. 



Warren county, Fair Grounds, 76, 149, 
155, 167. 
bank, The, 161. 



"West church. The, 186. 

mountain, The, 161, 164. 
White Creek laid waste and burned in 

1780, 484. 
Wild cat swamp, 145, 149, 186. 
Williams, Fort, 146. 

rock, 187. 
Winer's Falls, 78, 187. 

island, 73, 81. 

tavern, 166, 411. 
Woedtke, The Baron de, 168. 



Year of the burning, 83. 




